Shades of Grey: Dance of Light and Shadow
by Dark Phoenix Reborn
Summary: The X-Blade has been formed, and Xehanort, thought destroyed, has returned. Lost and stranded in a foreign world, and on the run from the forces of Light and Darkness alike, alliances old and new must be reforged, and what was lost, must again be found.
1. Objects in Space

**Darkness.** It stretches on forever, enshrouding all worlds within it. The Black, as those who sail it call it, is like a night sky for which there is no day. It's easy to get lost out here, for those who don't know their way, and despair is never far behind. But, like the night sky, even in the blackest of The Black, there are always tiny points of light, for those who know where to look.

Space. A contradiction as old as time. Conftaining nothing and everything all at once. Endless depths of darkness filled with countless orbs of light. Each one burns brightly against the oppressive void around them. Some are quiet lights, glowing subdued but steady, content to sail the darkness for eternity. But some lights are destined to burn brightly, like a radiant beacon to others.

However, as the old saying goes, "Those that burn brightest, fade fastest."

Light and Darkness dance a waltz of eons, their balance always in ebb and flow. Likewise so the lives of those who would shelter beneath them ebb between war and peace. Conflict has existed as long as Darkness itself, and may, as some believe, predate it, the first Conflict sparking the first hint of Darkness; though some would argue the other way, the point is, in the end, moot. Like lights in the darkness, people cling to peace to bring them hope, and to help them find the path.

But like the brightest stars, peace never lasts forever.

"This is not a discussion I'm interested in having right now."

"Well when would be a good time?" Tapping her heels impatiently, and folding her arms, she added with a glare, "Because it seems you've been avoiding me for the past week Captain Reynolds."

"I have not," he replied quickly, holding back a sigh; he had been, actually, but he wasn't likely to admit that. "In case you haven't noticed Inara, I have a ship to captain." He hated it when she called him 'Captain Reynolds'. It was like she donned a mask that said 'I am going to make your life more difficult'. She'd caught him when he went to check the last of the cargo they had to deliver, a mistake he'd spent the past week trying to avoid making.

Inara Serra, registered Companion, just levelled a deeper glare at him, striding purposefully after him as she muttered beneath her breath, "Bullshit."

"For such a dignified lady you sure have a smutty mouth sometimes." Trying, and failing, to put some distance between himself and the woman, as he climbed the steps past the med bay, Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds, Captain of the Firefly-class transport 'Serenity', continued, "Look, we're a few days away from finishing the best job we've had in a while - and a legit one at that - and we've been tryin' mighty hard to fly under the radar these days, what with that gorram bounty hunter that boarded us a handful of weeks ago. Your 'schedule' will just need to wait a bit."

"My 'schedule'?" Inara replied, growing increasingly irate. "The trip to Sihnon should have taken three _weeks_, at worst, and here we are nearing three _months_ since I told you I was leaving. If you're deliberately-"

"I've told you to stay out of my business," Mal cut her off, stopping halfway up the stairs. "You've made it abundantly clear that you're not a part of my crew, but if you're gonna make accusations there's a few things you aught to know. I don't got a choice but to take the jobs that come up, no matter how fast I do or do not want to go someplace. I got a crew to pay, stomachs to fill, a ship to fuel, and a deep need for parts to keep this ship running; and thanks to this job we're finishing up, I finally have enough to do all that, and keep us in the sky a while longer. You wanna pay our way to Sihnon, then we will get there as fast as the pay allows, elsewise we gotta take the roundabout way. Now, we're only a couple days out from Persephone, and we'll likely be there a way or two for fuel and repair, so all I want the rest of the way is a nice, relaxing trip."

Without warning, the ship lurched suddenly to one side, a loud, resonating clang preceding a violent impact against the base of the hull. One hand latching tightly on to the banister with the first jolt, Mal's other hand shot out to catch Inara, who was knocked off balance entirely. Unfortunately, he overcompensated, pulling her body flush against his, and an awkward silence followed, before Mal broke away, muttering an old Chinese curse to himself, "I surely annoyed someone or other in a past life, didn't I..." Raising his voice again, he added, "However, seeing as how I never get what I want, if you'll excuse me your ladyship, I need to see what my 'ace pilot' decided to crash us into this week."

Despite the obvious dismissal, Inara followed Mal as he strode towards the bridge, crying out, "Wash! What in the hell are you playing at?"

An answer came, but not from the person he was expecting, as his mechanic Kaywinnit Lee 'Kaylee' Frye called back, "Sorry cap'n, the NavSat went on the blitz." At his questioning look at seeing both her and co-pilot, and fellow war survivor, Zoe Alleyne, on the bridge, she continued, "I was up here with Zoe workin' on the co-pilot console when it just cut out for some reason. Near as I can tell, though, the hardware's fine."

Mal nodded, accepting her answer, but adding, "Be that as it may, that don't mean his eyes stopped working does it? What the hell did you hit?"

"It hit us!" Hoban 'Wash' Washburne, pilot and husband to Zoe, replied from the pilot's seat, and not taking an eye off his console for a second. "One minute the sky was clear, then next, the NavSat cut out, and bam. If I didn't get us out of the way in time it'd likely have hit the bridge and killed us all."

"What, we're bein' attacked?" A surly voice asked, preceding the hired gun Jayne Cobb onto the bridge, "Is it Reavers? It's the gorram Reavers isn't it?"

"Shut up," Mal barked, silencing Jayne's impending tirade, and noticing the remaining three members of his crew arriving: the preacher Shepherd Book, the doctor Simon Tam, and his enigmatic, and sometimes... eccentric sister River. "It ain't Reavers."

"How can you know that fer sure?" Jayne persisted.

Turning to stare the man in the eyes, Mal explained, "'Coz if it were Reavers, by now they'd have boarded us, and we'd be dead." That shut the man up, and, satisfied that he'd put Jayne in his place, Mal turned back to Wash and said, "Now, swing us around so we can see what we did hit."

"I'm telling you Mal, it's gotta be space debris, 'coz there's no way a... ship... could..." He trailed off as it became very clear what, exactly, they'd hit when they saw the red fuselage with the yellow stripe across it, and the word 'Highwind' stencilled along the side.

Mal summed up everyone's thoughts best. "Huh."

* * *

**- Shades of Grey -**

_- Dance of Light and Shadow -_

Chapter 01 - Objects in Space

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

Additional Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly, Serenity, or any other license to do with any part of the series. If I did, I wouldn't have cancelled the series after one season, like those idiots at that 3-letter network beginning with 'F' and ending with 'X'.

* * *

There was a moment of silence on the deck of _Serenity_, as the assembled crew observed the strange ship they'd crashed into. The fuselage was sloped, coming to a triangular point on one end, and on the other, a large dome capped a square-ish block. behind that were a pair of small thrusters, and along the side, slightly below the midpoint of the fuselage was a yellow cylinder, with a short white wing and matching aileron.

Jayne was the first one to recover his voice, drawling, "That's a weird lookin' bird."

"It's no weirder than ours, really," Simon replied with a dazed kind of shrug.

"Hey!" Kaylee cried, smacking him on the shoulder at the insult to _Serenity_.

"Hold up," Mal remarked, as the strange ship continued to turn around, "Are those what I think they are?"

Leaning over the pilot's console, Wash remarked, "Are those _cannons_?"

"Sir, look," Zoe added, pointing to something near the yellow cylinder on the side, "That thing looks like it's got a sword rigged up to it."

Looking over to his former Corporal, Mal asked, "You think it's a danger to us?"

"I reckon not sir," Wash replied, nodding his head towards the ship as it continued spinning, revealing that other side of the ship was decidedly less undamaged: both the wing and the aileron on this side has been sheered off; the sword mounted opposite the previous one was snapped in half; a large crack ran from the top of the dome all the way down to where it met the body; and, most importantly, there was a large, gaping hole in the side of the hull.

"Wow, looks trashed," Jayne remarked, ever the master of stating the obvious. "Think the feds cracked it open?"

"I'm still not even sure how it got here," Wash remarked, tapping a few keys on his console, "I mean, I've scanned this thing nose to tip, and it's not that much larger than one of our shuttles. Given the size of the engines we saw on back, there's no way this thing's anything better than a short-range transport, but there's no planet within days of here. I mean, it could be a life raft, but no ships pass through here. I mean, that's expressly why we chose this route."

"Sir? What should we do?"

"Best we just pass it by." Mal replied to Zoe's question, folding his arms. "If it was attacked, chances are they took anything worth salvaging."

"The key to all things lies inside." River's quiet voice cut through the cockpit, silencing all conversation. "It lies helpless, unguarded, just waiting for the darkness to snatch it away."

The crew were silent for a moment, glancing between each other as they digested what the strange young girl had said, before Simon cleared his throat, asking, "Uh, what about survivors?"

"Well, scans aren't showing much," Wash supplied, "Let's face it, the odds of anything surviving that kind of damage-"

"Shh," River's voice cut him off. When the girl had moved closer to the main window, no one knew, but she had pressed her ear against it. "I hear voices in the darkness. They're asleep now, but soon to wake."

"Are pretty good according to our resident space-case." Mal was a lot less hesitant and a lot more trusting when it came to River ever since that bounty hunter incident. "Wash, you sure there's nothing on the scans?"

Shrugging slightly, Wash replied, "Well, I'm picking up traces of oxygen, but not much." Looking back at the console, he tapped a few keys before adding, "Well, there is something. I mean, it's probably nothing, but there's a slightly larger concentration of oxygen built up near that dome on the back. It's hard to get a read on where exactly though, the scanners just seem to slip across it."

Mal nodded, "Wash, I want you to bring the ship closer. Zoe, go get our suits ready. Jayne, go get Vera, dress her up." At everyone's surprised look, he added, "I don't expect trouble, but trouble does have a habit of finding us, so I want us prepared. Shepherd, I want you and the doc to get the med bay ready. Inara, if you can, could you keep River out of trouble, and make sure we have extra beds, just in case River's right, and there's more than one survivor. Now, some oxygen ain't a lot, so let's hurry.

The crew moved with a purpose, leaving the cockpit all but empty within seconds. Waiting a few seconds until they were out of earshot, he turned to the two left in the cockpit he hadn't named, adding one final order. "Kaylee, get the Nav back online, and do whatever you can to boost the signal. If something did this to their ship, it might be as hard to track as this one is, and I don't wanna get jumped by it."

o-o

Shepherd Book and Inara waited with great anticipation outside the infirmary, doing their best to appear calm and busy - Inara seated, practicing her calligraphy, the Shepherd standing nearer the wall, reading his bible - but both glanced up every now and then towards the ship's hangar doors. It had only been a few minutes since Mal, Zoe and Jayne had last radioed in, their voices playing over the ship's intercom, saying they had found survivors, and the tension was thick.

Inside the Med Bay, Simon was preparing a couple of extra beds, using the stretchers they had kept from the Ariel job, while River lay down on the bedding laid down on one of the benches, curled into a loose foetal position. Sparing a look for his sister, Simon sighed softly, washing his hands for possibly the third time in as many minutes. "Kids... They're just kids." When Mal had reported in earlier, he'd mentioned that they had found people still on the derelict, in a sealed room near the dome. Four kids, none of them looking more than a day older than seventeen-year-old River. "I hope this doesn't turn into an autopsy."

"Autopsies aren't meant for the living," River remarked absently, sitting up and sliding off the bench. "That's vivisection."

Simon paused for a moment, thinking of how to address his sister's remark. It was off the cuff, and pure fact, sounding almost lucid. Horrifying, but lucid. Before he could form a reply, the hiss of the airlock doors opening drew his attention, and he found himself heading for the hold to see how the rescue went.

o-o-o

_"Your heart has always belonged to me. It's time I took it back."_

_**"Foolish child. You've been working for me ever since you took up that blade. You just didn't know it."**_

_"Run! Get her out of here! Find Master-!"_

_**"The X-Blade is mine!"**_

_**"XEHANORT!"**_

"Kairi!" Bolting upright, Sora cast his eyes around quickly, trying to find any of his friends. Spotting Riku lying down on the bench to his left, he quickly glanced the other way, hoping to find either of his ladies, but instead finding only a strange man in a white shirt and black vest; a man who seemed equally surprised to see him. Looking around the room again quickly, and trying to ignore how it made his head spin, he called out again, "Kairi!"

As he started to climb to his feet, the strange man hurried over, grabbing the teen's shoulders and pressing down, remarking, "Hold on, you can't get up yet. You're still not completely recovered. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you're awake."

"I don't care!" Sora remarked, struggling to get up; if his body weren't too tired to respond, he'd likely have hit the older man by now. "Where's Namine? Where's Kairi?"

"I'm right here Sora," Kairi's cheerful voice remarked, sounding more tired than Sora remembered. As answer to his other question, she added, "Namine's asleep."

"They've been taking shifts to watch over the two of you," the stranger remarked, "They said you wouldn't react well if you woke up alone." Remembering himself, he added, "My name is Simon Tam. I'm the ship's doctor."

Smiling tiredly as he lay back down, Sora replied, "I guess I don't need to tell you my name's Sora. Uh, sorry about, you know, when I woke up."

Simon just shrugged. "Don't worry about it. You're hardly the first patient to attack me on waking up, and, on this ship, you're unlikely to be the last."

"Still, I'm sorry all the same," Sora commented, sighing tiredly before adding, "Ugh, did anyone get the name of that Behemoth that ran me over."

Turning back to look at the charts on the bench behind him, Simon stated, "Whatever you and your friend, Riku is it? Did to yourselves, your bodies were pushed past the point of exhaustion, and just shut down. It's a miracle you're not dead."

"Broken." Before Sora, or Kairi for that matter, could comment on Simon's remark, a new, female voice interjected. "Broken like me." Turning towards the voice, they saw a strange brunette girl, hovering over Riku, with her face inches from his. "Trapped between what he wants to be, and what he has to be. Between what he was born to be, and what he was made to be. Broken."

Riku's eyes opened slowly, the older teen groaning in pain, and he began sitting up, before noticing the nearby face, and recoiling, inadvertently slamming his head against the bench. Blinking through pain-filled eyes at the girl, the lavender-haired youth asked, "Yes?"

Tilting her head to one side, the girl just remarked, "I like your hair," and before anyone could comment, she took off out of the Med Bay and out of sight.

Exhaustion taking hold again, Sora's eyes began to slip closed, his mind conscious long enough to hear Riku ask who that was, and for Simon to reply that it was his sister River, before darkness claimed him.

o-o-o

"Captain, we're about day out from Persephone now."

Mal nodded at his pilot, remarking, "Good. Didn't lose much time, even with that little pit stop. Call Badger, let him know he'll get his coin not but a day late."

"We get any decent salvage of that derelict sir?" Zoe asked, leaning against Wash's console.

"I reckon so," Mal nodded, before adding, "Though might need Kaylee to work out what some of it actually does."

"We could always ask those kids we pulled off it," Zoe supplied.

Before Mal could comment one way or the other on that statement, there was a knock on the cockpit door, before Simon stuck his head in. "Speaking of," Mal commented, turning to give the man his full attention as he asked, "So doc, how're our latest guests?"

"They're out of observation now," Simon replied. "Both of the boys have woken up, though one did go back into a more restful sleep almost right away. As near as I can tell, they were both suffering from some sort of extreme exhaustion, that caused their bodies to just shut down, effectively like they were hibernating. In all honesty, I can't explain how they didn't pass out long before reaching that point."

Casting a quick glance at Zoe, Mal asked, "Safe to move 'em?"

Simon just nodded. "They're in no danger any more."

"Zoe, would you see to getting them settled into the spare guest rooms?" Turning back to Wash, he added, "I've got to contact Badger, make sure he knows we're not trying to cheat him out of our hard earned money." With a nod, the woman headed off to the infirmary.

o-o

When Sora awoke again, everyone was more or less in the same place they had been, except Riku was now sitting up on the bench, and Simon was absent, replaced with Namine, the blonde teasing Riku for the white bandage now adorning his forehead. Riku kept insisting that it was because he'd hit his head in the attack, but Kairi counter-insisted that it was when he was 'frightened by a girl who couldn't be more than forty kilos wringing wet'.

Riku was the first to notice Sora's return to the land of the conscious, sliding off the bench as he remarked, "Finally awake are you? Kairi always said you were lazy. You've gotta help me, the girls keep ganging up on me."

Sitting up on the infirmary chair, Sora replied with a grin, "If you weren't such an easy target, they'd leave you alone."

"Et tu?" Riku remarked, as the two girls laughed.

Before the conversation could continue, a darker skinned woman, her curly brown hair coming past her shoulders, rapped on the glass as she approached, stating, "All awake now I see? Simon said you should be. My name's Zoe. Captain asked me to get you all settled in here."

Hopping off the chair, Sora offered her a wave. "Thanks Zoe. My name's Sora. Since I'm the last one up, I assume the others have introduced themselves already, but in case they haven't, this is Kairi and Namine, and that's Riku," he indicated the people in question.

After the three had greeted her, and she had acknowledged in kind, the woman lead them the short distance to the guest quarters, explaining, "First, there's a couple rules we need you to adhere to while you're on _Serenity_. First, you're free to visit the galley at any time. That's just up those stairs right there. Second, we're gonna have to insist you stay away from the cargo bay, which is though that door, the cockpit, and especially the engine room without the captain or I there to look after you. It's nothing personal you understand, but-"

"But those are sensitive areas of the ship, and we could really screw something up if left to our own devices?" Sora finished, a grin on his face, "Don't worry, we understand."

Moving on, Zoe pointed out the room and continued, "Now, we've only got two guest rooms free, what with Book, Simon and River taking up the other three, so we're gonna have to double you up, two to a room. The girls will have this room, next to River, while the boys will be on the other side."

Sora glanced quickly at Kairi and Namine, who smiled back at him, while Riku just rolled his eyes. "That'll be fine."

o-o

"See you planetside," Mal stated, disconnecting the call, before asking Wash, "Did he seem unusually accommodating to you?"

"He did seem a bit more agreeable than normal," Wash agreed.

Pausing a moment, Mal asked, "You sure those kids and that derelict weren't flagged?"

"I've checked and double checked," Wash replied, "Even asked Mister Universe if he could find anything, but he came up empty handed. Either there's no flags out, or they're keeping it very hush-hush."

"Just keep an ear on it."

"Mal, why did you have Zoe do the meet-and-greet?" Wash asked, a curious lilt to his voice. "She or I could have handled the wave to Badger."

Folding his arms before his chest as he leant against the co-pilot console, Mal supplied, "Zoe's good at reading people. Plus, she's less likely to spook 'em into clamming up." At Wash's incredulous look, he explained, "People act different around the captain of a ship than they do the crew."

"Zoe's more likely to scare them IN to talking than OUT of it," Wash translated, to which Mal smirked briefly and nodded.

o-o

"So girls, where do we stand?" Sora slid the door to their room closed, after Kairi and Namine slipped in.

"I think we're safe here," Namine replied, glancing at her sister briefly before continuing, "I mean, while Zoe was definitely trying to get a read on us just before, she seemed honest in her intentions. From what I read of her, she's more concerned we're a threat to them; they're harbouring fugitives from what I assume is this world's government."

"There doesn't feel to be any particularly dark people on the ship," Kairi added. "A few of them seem to have a few skeletons in their closet, like Zoe, but they all feel like good people." Frowning, she added, "There's just two people I can't get a clear reading on. River's one of them. There's just something different about her."

Sitting down on the bed, Riku asked, "Where are we anyway? I've never seen anything like this ship on any of the worlds I've been to in the past two years."

"Good question. Let's see what Tron thinks," Sora remarked, activating the orichalcum wrist computer he'd gotten on Radiant Garden. "Huh, that's weird," Sora commented, "It can't connect to him."

"Let me have a look," Namine stated, twisting his arm to one side to get at it better as she added under her breath, "You're not really good with computers..." After fiddling with it for a few minutes, and more than a few mumbled curses, the blonde girl sighed. "I owe you an apology Sora. I thought it was a user error, but you're right, it can't connect with Tron. It should be able to, but it can't find him. It did locate another network though, something called the 'Cortex'."

"Maybe that can tell us where we are," Sora commented, yielding his arm to Namine to let her work her magic on the computer.

o-o

The two men looked up from their respective thoughts as Zoe returned to the bridge, stating, "All settled in sir. I put the boys up in the room near the Shepherd, and the girls next to River. Figure she'd like some company her own age around."

Mal nodded, signalling his acceptance of her decision, before asking, "You get anything out of them."

"Not much sir," Zoe replied, shrugging slightly, "They were all a bit closed mouth. Seemed to defer to the brunette, Sora, though, even the older boy, Riku. Seems friendly enough though."

"You think they're a danger to us?" This was, after all, the most important question, and would determine whether the kids got off at Persephone, or a might sooner.

Zoe simply shook her head. "I don't reckon so sir."

"Mal, we've got a problem here," Wash spoke up, as if directly countering Zoe's sentiment, "Someone's accessed the Cortex."

Rushing over to his console, Mal barked, "Shut 'em out, quickly."

"I... I can't!" Wash exclaimed, frantically typing in commands. "Whoever's in has managed to lock me out."

Mal and Zoe shared a look, both realising who it had to be, before Mal sighed. "Can you at least trace who they're contacting?"

"I can follow their signal easily enough, I just can't stop it," Wash supplied, keying in a few more things, before commenting, "Huh. Seems like they're not contacting anyone specific. They sent out a query for, of all things, a star map." A moment later, Wash added, "They've disconnected now. I've shut the Cortex down, just in case."

"What should we do about this sir?" Zoe asked.

Thinking for a moment, Mal replied, "Nothing yet. We're the only ones who know about this, so that's where it stays. If nothing comes of it, we wouldn't want the others worrying for nothing." Waiting for the other two to nod in acceptance, he continued, "We're a day out from Persephone, so all going well, we can unload them there, and forget this ever happened. Meantime, I may have to have a chat with 'em myself. Get some sleep; I'll watch the bridge."

Needing no further encouragement, Zoe and Wash both headed off, Mal sliding into the pilot's chair once they'd left. "Best not to think about it," he commented softly to himself, "They may be kids, but I've got to look after me and mine first."

o-o-o

"What're you doin' in here so late?"

"Gah!" With a startled cry, Sora accidentally released his hold on the drink he had, the cup hitting the table with a resounding 'thunk', though he was quick enough to grab it before it could make more noise, or spill what remained of its liquid cargo. Setting the cup carefully on the table, Sora smiled sheepishly, his eyes glancing towards the bronze-coloured gun strapped to the man's waist, before rubbing the back of his head with his free hand as he replied, "Uh, sorry about that. Um... Zoe said the we could visit the galley at any time. Was that wrong?"

"No, that's quite alright," Mal commented, seating himself opposite the young stranger, subtly unclipping the safety strap of his holster once it was out of view. "I meant more why are you here when you should be sleeping? It may get a bit hard to tell out here in the black, but it is night."

"Couldn't sleep," Sora replied simply, shrugging half-heartedly. "I mean, Simon told me I'd been out for, what, two days?" Seeing the nod of agreement, he continued, "I figure I've slept enough. Besides," he grinned slightly, "Riku snores. Like a saw."

"I know that feeling." Without moving his shoulder or upper arm more than necessary, Mal began easing his gun free of the holster. "So, Sora." The brunette teen jumped in shock. "Zoe told us your name. Anyway, we had a bit of excitement on the bridge earlier this evening." Sora winced before he could stop himself. "I take it you know what that's about then?"

"Yeah, that was me," Sora stated slowly, "Well, it was Namine, she's better with computers than I am, but it was us all the same. I'm really sorry if we messed anything up, or got you guys in trouble. We just wanted to find out where we were, see if there was any landmarks we recognized."

"And?"

Sora smiled sheepishly, "We're more lost now than before we looked." Gazing away from the man opposite him, he continued, "I just hope I can talk to the captain before we land tomorrow, see if he can help us clear up a few things." Grinning slightly, he added, "I should probably apologise anyway for what happened tonight, and thank him for rescuing us."

Nodding, Mal slipped his gun back into the holster, satisfied that these kids weren't a threat to him or his crew. "Apology accepted, and no thanks needed." At Sora's blank, albeit curious look, Mal stated, "I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds."

Sora face-palmed, muttering to himself softly, "Of course you are, that would be my luck lately. Sometimes, I swear, if I didn't have bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all." Straightening up again, a hint of his ever-present smile returned to his face, as he extended his hand, saying "Nice to meet you Captain Reynolds."

Releasing his weapon, Mal shook the teen's hand over the table, before asking, "So where are you from anyway? And how did you end up in the middle of nowhere on that derelict?"

Sora opened his mouth to reply, before pausing, and stating, "I could lie to you. I mean, I've already seen the map of the system, so I could make it up, but I think you, at least, deserve the truth, even if you don't decide to share it with the rest of your crew." He waited for Mal to nod his acceptance, before continuing, "The truth is, we're not from anywhere in this system. That's why we didn't recognize anything on the star map."

Mal's eyes widened, the only sign of his shock, as he remarked, "Huh." Taking a few moments to compose himself, Mal added, "Well, that would account for a certain amount of oddness about you, bein' from a different part of the 'Verse an' all." He shifted a bit uncomfortably. "And I reckon you'll be wanting those parts back we salvaged from your ship."

Sora just shook his head. "No, you were right before Captain, it's a derelict now. Parts started flaking off before we got here, and we're not likely to find replacements. Anything that still works, you might as well use." Leaning back on his chair slightly, he added, "This does bring me to a something I wanted to talk to you about though Captain."

Folding his arms, Mal nodded. "Speak your piece."

"First, I need to thank you again for saving us." He held up his hands to forestall any rebuttal from Mal. "Captain Reynolds, have you ever had someone you loved strong enough that you would lay down your life if it meant that person would live but a moment longer?" Sora waited, as Mal nodded slowly. "Well, I have two people I care that strongly about, whom I have had to risk my life on more than one occasion for. And you saved their lives." He pulled a large pouch out from one of his pockets, setting it on the table as he added, "Words alone can never express my thanks enough."

"I won't accept coin for saving you," Mal remarked firmly, "If you want to thank us for that, you can help Kaylee identify the salvage."

"This wasn't for that Captain." At Mal's glare, he amended, "Okay, it wasn't _just_ for that. As I'm sure you can see Captain, my friends and I are in a bit of a tight spot. We're in a foreign system, our ship is dead, and we have no idea where we are, let alone how to get home again. We have no destination, not even a hint of where to go."

"I get the feeling there's more you ain't tellin' me," Mal prompted, "Like how your ship got all banged up? With your story, you don't look to be the type to have trouble with the Alliance."

Sora winced again. "You're right, we do have people chasing us, but I don't think they know where we are either. I mean, we were out cold when we got here, and they were right on our tail. If they knew where we were, and could get here, it's likely they would've caught us."

"What are they after you for?" Mal asked, eyeing the bag of coin sitting on the table; some of the coin had spilled out when Sora'd dropped it on the table, revealing a good amount of gold inside. "You steal from the wrong person?"

Thinking quickly, Sora replied, "Let's just say, where we come from, there are eight key things you need to become the ruler. Now, some tyrant who's planning on destroying or subjugating everything already has four of these keys, and knows where he can find two more." Taking a deep breath, he added, "And Kairi and I have the last two."

Eyeing the bag again, Mal asked, "So, assuming I decide to help, which is what I gather you're askin' for here, what do you need, protection? We're a cargo ship; you're like to find better protection on Persephone."

"We can protect ourselves, Captain Reynolds," Sora replied, adding with a sheepish grin, "Well, usually, anyways. We were in a bad way when our ship got attacked, but we've had the time to recover now. No, all we really need is a place to lay low for a while, as we figure out our next move. All I'd ask is you make sure your ship's repaired, in case the guys chasing us do find their way here. And I don't just mean so you can help us escape. I mean so you and your crew won't be endangered by us being on your ship any more than we can help it."

Unfolding his arms, Mal stood, pacing about the room for a moment before asking, "What's to stop him from blowing you, and any vessel you happened to be on, out of the sky and taking what he needs from the wreckage?"

"He needs us alive to get them," Sora replied with a half-shrug, "I don't think I can explain it in a way you'd understand without telling you more than I think's safe, but let's just say, dead gets them nothing." Glancing at the bag on the table, Sora added quickly, "I have three more of those if need be."

Mal paused in his pacing, walking over to have a close look as to how much was inside, cursing to himself quietly in Chinese as he did so before stating, "This is more'n twice what I paid for the whole gorram ship." There were a few long minutes of tense silence, different emotions warring on the man's grizzled features, before he nodded once to himself, seemingly reaching a decision. Facing Sora again, he confirmed, "So, food, bed, place to hide; that everything?"

Sora half-shrugged again, "Everything I can think of. I don't want to disrupt your operations at all. I'll let you know if anything else comes up, or we work out a destination."

Nodding, Mal tucked the bag into one of his pockets, stating as he strode off, "Get some sleep. We'll be on Persephone this afternoon, drop off our cargo, refuel, and be on our way."

Satisfied, and accepting the Captain's dismissal, Sora finished his drink, placing the cup back in the sink before heading back to the guest quarters, yawning widely as sleep began encroaching on him again, and never noticing the figure leaning against the open galley door. If he did, he might have been surprised as the scowl on the grey-haired man's face.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

I can honestly say I think this is the first time the Kingdom Hearts universe has ever been crossed over with that of Firefly. That said, this isn't a complete crossover, any more than any other Kingdom Hearts story is, which is why I haven't labelled it as such; the first handful of chapters are just set here.

This is a different format for me, starting with the story straight away, and adding the title in after the first scene. I doubt I'll continue this trend with the rest of the chapters in the series (though I might, if it proves popular); I just thought I'd start the chapter this way because that's the one episodes of Firefly start - with an opening scene, then a cut to the intro sequence.

Now, something else I don't normally do, because I myself don't especially like reading it, is the inclusion of other languages mid-sentence in such a way a direct translation is either impossible, or at the very least, kludgey. I try to avoid it when I can. The problem is, however, that in the Firefly series, every character slips into Chinese every now and then.

Originally, I had planned to include some of this Chinese in the however-many chapters of this story would be set there, but when the little bit I tried to include began to annoy me. Plus, including more would mean constantly referring to the website I found that had the translations, so I just decided to cut it completely. Just thought I'd make mention of that for any fan of the Firefly series wondering why there wasn't any Chinese.

In other news, I decided to go for a New Year's release for this story, despite having only this chapter completed, simply because I've established something of a tradition with my last two stories, releasing them around this time of year. Besides, it'll give me incentive to get the lead out and write more, knowing people are waiting for it.

Fear not, any and all questions about how things got to where they are now will be answered in due time. As many of you have no doubt guessed, the collection of short phrases before Sora's awakening is to serve as something of a teaser, until such time as the full story comes out. In the mean time, I would love to hear theories on what people think is actually being said, to whom, and by whom.


	2. Serenity

_"Hello Sora. I believe you have something that belongs to me."_

_ "Impossible..." Sora breathed, momentarily forgetting to struggle against the unseen bonds that held him as he took in Xehanort's visage. "I killed you. I watched you die. Twice."_

_ "Wrong. You killed two separate halves of me," Xehanort corrected. "Which allowed the true me to return. Really, I must thank you. Ansem and Xemnas were failed experiments, so lost in their own machinations they lost sight of their true purpose. Not just obtaining Kingdom Hearts, but using it to remake the worlds, and right the imbalance between Light and Darkness."_

_ "There was no imbalance before you screwed everything up!" Sora retorted, renewing his struggles._

_ Xehanort shook his head, tsk'ing sadly. "After all this time, you still understand nothing. A shame, but you have no more time to learn. Vanitas? Reclaim my property."_

_ "I'm going to enjoy this Ventus," Vanitas stated coldly, in his dual voice. Pointing the tip of his Void Gear Keyblade at the helpless Sora's chest, he added, "Your heart has always belonged to me. It's time I took it back."_

_ "No!" The beam of light that fired from the tip of the Keyblade was parried by an unlikely hero, given the target. Standing between the villains of old, and what he was as a potential new villain, Mickey held Kingdom D at the ready. "I helped stop you ten years ago, and I'll stop you again."_

_ "You? Stop me?" Xehanort started laughing. "Foolish child. You've been working for me ever since you took up that blade, you just didn't know it." The villain's laughter returned at the horrified look on the mouse king's face. "Oh yes. Did you really think the Chosen Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness picked you on a whim? No, you've already done great things on my behalf. Like sending young Sora here to Hades. And collecting the princesses."_

_ "You'll never get them!" Mickey shouted, "I have sealed the castle from the likes of you!"_

_ "And who do think gave you that idea?" Xehanort smirked. "And besides, I don't need to get them myself. You will get them for me." Holding his hand out to one side, he summoned a Keyblade thought long lost, casting a spell that sealed Mickey inside an impenetrable barrier. Turning to the teens behind, he added, "Speaking of, I do believe I owe young Namine for springing two of them. You, the one player I didn't expect in this game. Time to remove you from the board."_

_ "I don't think so," Riku stated, summoning the Guardian into a defensive position as he moved in front of the girl._

_ "Well, if it isn't my former vessel," Xehanort sneered, "I should thank you too, for taking the Guardian off my hands, freeing me to become the man I am today." Without warning, a hand that seemed to be composed of thick black cables burst out of the ground, grabbing Riku and the Guardian both, and slamming them into the dirt, pinning them in place. "But do you really think it can stand against its creator?" Turning to his minion, he barked, "Vanitas, secure the princess, while I deal with the loose end."_

_ Kairi stood, watching in horror, as everything unfolded: Mickey, Sora, and Riku disabled; Namine, like her, frozen in fear; Vanitas approaching, his wicked Keyblade in hand, and menace on his face; Xehanort, his Keyblade shifting into a giant cannon, gathering energy to destroy her sister. She saw all this, yet could do nothing._

_ Fortunately, she didn't have to._

_ "Xehanort!" A gold blur hit the earth at high speed, kicking up a cloud of dust obscuring everyone from view, and, more importantly, sending out a shockwave which knocked Xehanort and Vanitas from their feet, while freeing Mickey, Sora, and Riku from their bindings. When the dust cleared, it revealed a crouching man in weathered red-and-gold armour, carrying a massive tarnished bronze Keyblade; on closer inspection, nothing but air could be seen through the gaps and holes in the armour, meaning it was not a man at all, but an animated suit of armour. The Lingering Sentiment._

_ "You again?" Xehanort roared, readying his Keyblade again. "How many times must I kill you?"_

_ The Lingering Sentiment shouted in response, "Ventus. Run!" before charging towards Xehanort._

_ "Damnit!" The silver-haired man growled, "Vanitas, secure all the prisoners now!"_

_ "Sora, take this!" Mickey shouted, throwing a bag the teen's way. "I'm entrusting it, and Kairi, to you. It doesn't mean I trust you, I just trust you more than them. Now go!" Charging to meet Vanitas, he added, "Run! Get her out of here! Find Master Aqua!"_

_ "To the ship!" Sora declared, hustling the still-dazed Kairi and Namine away from the battlefield, Riku bringing up the rear._

_ As the battle sounds drew fainter, Xehanort could be heard shouting, "No! The X-Blade is mine!"_

_ The last sound they heard, before all noise faded completely, was the Lingering Sentiment roaring, "XEHANORT!"_

Kairi awoke with a start, the horror scenes fading slowly, too slowly, from her mind, as her consciousness fought to remember where she was now. It was only the warm form pressed against her front, and the strong arms holding her from behind that prevented her from panicking while her brain rebooted.

"Shh, it's okay Kai. You're okay now," Sora whispered, waiting until he was sure she was calm before asking, "Bad dream?"

Kairi snuggled deeper into his embrace. Sora'd insisted that as much as he'd have preferred to, he couldn't sleep between them, because he needed to get back to his own quarters before the crew realised he wasn't there. All it really meant was the girls had to spoon close together to allow Sora's arms the reach to hug them both, and that they would no doubt be swapping who got the middle spot from night to night.

Listening to Namine murmur in contentment, the redhead replied softly, "The worst."

* * *

**- Shades of Grey -**

_- Dance of Light and Shadow -_

Chapter 02 - Serenity

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

Additional Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly, Serenity, or any other license to do with any part of the series. If I did, I wouldn't have cancelled the series after one season, like those idiots at that 3-letter network beginning with 'F' and ending with 'X'.

* * *

Waking up in a strange bed was nothing new to Riku. In the two years now since he'd first left home, he'd slept in more strange beds than familiar ones. Waking up on board the _Serenity_ was, therefore, no great shock, especially after the last week or so. Thus far, he had: found Sora after three months lost; rounded up six of the seven Princesses of Heart; been betrayed by his then-Master; discovered Namine existed separately from Kairi again; fought his evil opposite; and teamed up with his former master to help his fallen friend, along with Kairi and Namine, to defeat Hades and his army of Heartless, before being shot off course and crashing into a strange pocket galaxy.

'Man, if Sora's life is always this crazy, maybe I was better off solo,' Riku thought to himself wryly, shuffling deeper into the warmth of his bed, 'It may have been boring, but at least everything made sense.' As awareness continued returning, and more of his senses began feeding information back, he realised that he was warmer than he expected. That, and there was something pressed against his back. Eyes opening a fraction, Riku turned around slowly, thinking sleepily to himself, 'Don't tell me Sora struck o-'

The figure he saw behind him, pressed against him until he started moving, was not the form of his friend, nor was it even male. Staring back at him was the wide, bright eyes of the girl that had been there when he awoke yesterday. The girl who had been identified as River.

Before the lavender-haired teen could utter so much as one syllable, River remarked calmly, "You talk in your sleep," and while his sleep-addled brain was still processing that, she darted out of the room so fast, if not for the lingering scent in the air, he would have found it hard to believe she was even there.

Blinking slightly, Riku just settled in for a little more sleep, muttering to himself not-unkindly, "Weird girl."

o-o-o

Having landed on Persephone thankfully without incident, the crew of the _Serenity_, sans the four new guests, assembled in the cargo bay, as usual upon arrival. Opening the airlock doors, but not let lowering the external hatch, Mal explained the game plan to them. "Alright, me an' Zoe'll make the drop, then head over to Badger's and give'im his share. Wash, get us refuelled, full as you can get; spare tanks if possible. Kaylee, I want you to get any parts you need to get _Serenity_ right again; anything short of dry dock, we can't afford the time. And take Jayne with you to carry everything back."

There was a long moment of stunned silence as Mal divvied out the coin for their assigned tasks, the captain never having been this generous with their funds before, mostly because he didn't have the funds to be generous with. In the end, as always, it was Kaylee who broke the silence, asking in a both curious and concerned tone, "Are we rich cap'n?"

Looking at her with a smile he pretty much reserved for Kaylee alone, he replied, "Rich enough Kaylee." Glancing over at Zoe and Wash specifically, without being too obvious about it, he added, "Some of what we pulled off that derelict was more'n worth the salvage and day's delay." Turning his attention back to the task at hand, he continued, "Now Doc, you need any supplies to keep the med bay stocked? If so, gimme a total before we head off and I'll pass some coin along. Shepherd, if you wouldn't mind, could you pick us up some more foodstuffs? Some fresh is good so long as there's not over enough for a day or two, but most standard fare. We got more mouths to feed."

"We takin' in more strays Mal?" Jayne asked in his usual drawl. "You do remember what the last few brought with 'em?"

"We are," Mal replied simply, "If we had the time, might even see about furnishing that second shuttle a bit, give 'em some more room, but we ain't. Don't wanna spend more time'n we have to here. Four, five hours tops, unless somethin' serious crops us, stops us leavin' so fast. Oh, Inara," turning specifically to address the finely-dressed lady, he added, "Normally, I wouldn't ask, not wanting to interfere with your legitimate business, but since you have informed me you ain't got any appointments here, could you do us a small favour?"

Smiling thinly, and a touch wary, Inara replied, "Depends on the favour, captain."

Grinning in his usual fashion, Mal stated plainly, "We need a babysitter. Don't gotta do much, just keep an eye on River, and make sure she and our new friends don't get up to any mischief while we're away."

It was a simple enough task, and one Inara would have done anyway, even had the question not been asked, but it did gall a little to have to give in; still, he wasn't being unreasonable. "Of course I can, captain."

"Much appreciated." Turning away, he spun back, as if having just remembered something, "Oh, one last thing. Some good news for you, as it were." Seeing he had her undivided attention, plus that of his crew, he continued, "Due to our... recent windfall, we have the leeway to forgo picking up a new job while we're here. Got us enough in coin and salvage to keep us in the sky more'n a while. We can get you to Sihnon faster than expected."

That was not a statement she expected to hear come out of his mouth, given their... discussion, a few days past. The shock was actually enough to crack her resolve, enough for her to actually reply, "Thank you Mal," before she could stop herself.

Nodding, he turned back to his crew, barking, "Well, get going. You've got a day's work to do, and half a one to do it in."

o-o

"Everything okay last night Sora?"

"Yes and no," the teen replied, glancing over at his oldest friend over his drink, "I managed to square things away with the captain, rent us rooms on this ship while we figure out what to do next. However, Kairi had a nightmare last night about the Graveyard, and she told me this morning she'd been having it ever since it happened, though this was the first time it played out properly, instead of ending with her in tears as she watched Namine die."

Frowning as he stirred his morning coffee, Riku added, "And us being essentially in a coma wouldn't have helped her any on that front."

Shaking his head in reply, Sora continued, "I talked to Namine about it, but she said that short of hiding or removing Kairi's memories of the incident entirely, there wasn't much she could do. Kairi has to move past it herself." Shaking his head again, Sora asked, "So how was your night?"

"Quiet," Riku replied quickly, a little too much so, and changing the subject before Sora could question him further, "So, any idea about where we go from here?"

Shrugging sheepishly, Sora replied, "Not really, but..." Producing the bag Mickey had thrown at him as they fled the Keyblade Graveyard, he continued, "Mickey told us to find Aqua, and maybe something in here will help."

o-o

"Did the cap'n seem strange to you?" Kaylee asked, amidst piling parts into the cart she and Jayne had wrangled up. Already it contained a sizeable collection, the captain having been generous enough with the coin for her to purchase everything she needed to keep _Serenity_ in the air for at least six months.

"Mal did seem a might twitchy," Jayne replied, keeping an eye out for any trouble; he didn't expect any, but it always did seem to find them, one way or the other. "Ain't never seem him so loose with the coin. Then there's that thing about Mal wantin' to leave 'fore the sun sets. Couple days back he said we'd be here a stay, an' I was lookin' forward to gettin' me some 'R n' R', you know what I'm sayin'?"

"You think it's those kids?" Pausing in her hunt for parts, having found nearly everything she wanted, Kaylee continued, "I mean, he can't have sold the salvage we pulled off yet can he? I can understand if he had a sale in the make down here somewhere, but he gave us coin on landing."

Tilting his head to one side as a realisation occurred to him, Jayne remarked, "Yeah, where'd Mal get that kinda coin anyways? I'd remember if'n I got a share o' somethin' that big." Continuing the thought, he remarked, "Maybe those kids is rich?"

"Don't rightly change much," Kaylee remarked casually, "The way I see it, they still need our help. They's as babes in a basket, just like Simon an' River were."

"Yeah," Jayne drawled sourly, "And look'it all the fun they done brung us."

o-o

"Wow Inara, you've got such beautiful hair."

Smiling regally, Inara replied, "Why thank you Namine. So few people on this ship notice."

Glancing up from her sketchbook, which was thankfully amongst the personal effects rescued with them, the blonde girl asked, "How do you manage to keep it like that with all of your travelling around? I mean, we've been away from home all of, what, a week? And already my hair feels all dry and brittle."

"Years of practice," Inara smiled, before offering, "If you'd like, I can do your hair after I finish with Kairi?"

Said redhead was currently lying with her neck resting on the padded edge of a small washbasin, eyes closed and a peaceful smile on her face for the first time in days, as Inara gently ran a comb through her hair. Namine sat on the nearby lounge chair, sketching the two of them, while River napped on the nearby bed, curled up much like a cat.

"You're really good at this," Kairi murmured, her voice a relaxed drone. She was so glad the older woman had suggested this, after the past few nights' nightmares.

"Hey Inara, I don't want to offend you," Namine began, adding to herself, 'or stop what you're doing with Kairi', before continuing, "But what is it exactly you do on the ship? I mean, I've seen some of the crew, and the ship itself, and it just... um, you don't..."

"I don't seem to fit?" Inara offered, to the young blonde's relieved nod. "I'm not offended. Truthfully, I don't do anything on the ship, besides occasionally watching River when the rest are busy. No, I'm on this ship for much the same reasons as you are: I pay Mal- I mean, Captain Reynolds, for food and board, and he provides transport to other planets in the system, where I carry out my business."

"What business is that?" Flushing slightly, Namine added hastily, "Sorry, I don't mean to pry, but-"

"It's quite alright," Inara replied softly, so as to not disturb Kairi too much, "If I didn't wish for you to know, I would have said something earlier. I make no secret of my profession, nor am I ashamed of it. I am a registered Companion." Catching Namine's confused look caused her a moment's pause, to Kairi's unhappy murmuring. "You haven't heard of Companions?" Namine just shrugged helplessly. "A similar profession that existed once on Earth That Was would be a courtesan. In the simplest terms, a Companion is someone who is contracted to keep their client company, in whatever manner both the client and Companion agree on."

"Oh," Namine replied, still not getting it entirely; her eyes widened slightly as full realisation hit her moments later, forcing a slightly stronger, "Oh," from her lips.

"This won't be a problem will it?" Inara asked, genuinely concerned.

"No," Namine was quick to reply, "I've just... never met someone who did that. I don't even know if we had people like that on our world."

Curious, Inara asked, "Would you like to tell me about it?" With a happy smile, Namine nodded once, and began her description.

o-o

"Well, you were right about Badger bein' a bit too keen on seein' us, sir."

"He did seem a might eager for us to take that job," Mal nodded, adding with a chuckle, "Must say, the look on his face when I knocked it back, memory o' that'll keep me chortlin' more'n a few nights."

"And why did we sir?" Zoe asked straight-forwardly, "Job was along the way, and the take sounded good."

"It sounded too good," Mal replied, continuing along the way back to _Serenity_. "It was an unwholesome gig, but one with coin big enough we would've been fools passin' it by if we had've been as desperate as we were a few days past. Somethin' ain't on the level, a take that big still there after all this time, and truth be told, given the choice I'd rather not rifle through the ruins of one'a the worst battles of the war just for some coin."

"I don't disagree with you on any point there sir," Zoe remarked, "Just wanted to make sure we weren't making a mistake skipping the job. The man holds a grudge, like be less pleased giving us more work if he misses this one."

"We'll survive," Mal stated seriously, "We always do."

Changing subject easily, Zoe asked, "So, those kids're on the up-and-up? Don't imagine you'd keep aboard more trouble than we got."

"Don't reckon they do bring a danger to us," Mal commented, weaving amongst the masses, "They do have an oddness to them I'll tell you about once we get somewhere with less ears, but they just need to find where they're goin' from here, and paid enough coin to dither awhile with us." Glancing over his shoulder at his second in command, he added, "If they get too unruly, just shoot them."

This was a dance they'd played with previous guests. "Shoot them, sir?"

Mal nodded. "Politely."

o-o

Ambling through the market on his way back to the ship, Shepherd Book spared a smile for the people he passed along the way. It wasn't a gesture he could honestly say he felt, but the people, especially those on this world, that housed the abbey he'd spent a good spell in, expected it of men of the cloth, and so he delivered. And the reason he couldn't garner up an honest smile? The newest guests aboard the _Serenity_.

Those strange kids had worried him ever since he had first lain eyes on the odd ship they were found in. Book would be the first to admit that he wasn't the most well versed on ships, especially having been out of the world for a spell, but he did know that no Core world had a design like that in the works, and all Rim world ships were based on the same general design. There was no world he knew of that could have birthed a ship like the one they had run into.

Having overheard much of that Sora boy's discussion with the captain last night, Book felt like he saw most of the picture, but there were still two very important questions left unanswered; namely, 'how' and 'why'.

Coming out of his musing, he noticed that not only had he reached the _Serenity_, but he had almost reached the kitchen. True to the captain's request, he had acquired a day or two's worth of fresh produce, much of which was sold by the Southdown Abbey he had studied in, but most was standard fare, and needed to be put away. He paused outside the kitchen, though, when he heard voices within, only one of which he recognized; the boy Sora. Which named the other, unknown male voice the boy Riku he'd yet to meet. Setting his load down carefully, he settled in to listen.

Riku: "Seriously? That's your plan? How... How did you EVER get ANYTHING done these past two years?"  
Sora: "Persistence and stubbornness? Look, seriously, if you've got a better plan, I'd love to hear it."  
Riku: "...No, I don't. But, come on, Yen Sid has spent the past ten years looking for her, so what makes you think you'll succeed where he didn't?"  
Sora: "He's retired?"  
Riku: "Come on Sora."  
Sora: "Riku, we need to find Aqua before Xehanort does, and that's the end of it. Thanks to Mickey's research, we know roughly where she is. All we need to do now is pinpoint her location, and find a way to snatch her out of there."  
Riku: "And do you have any plan on how to do that?"  
Sora: "I have a few ideas."

Book waited there a moment longer, hearing the voices become more indistinct as they headed off to the passenger quarters. Suddenly, the picture that he thought was almost clear was shrouded in mystery once more. His only hope was that whoever they were hiding from wouldn't find them while they were _Serenity_'s problem.

o-o-o

"Define 'disappeared'."

Though the opaque helmet hid his face, Vanitas couldn't help but scowl as he thus defined. "The wormhole Sora fled into closed behind him, and the Heartless ship that followed them in were, near as I can tell, destroyed on contact with the exit portal. I've had the Heartless, Nobodies, and the Unversed scouring the area for days now, and they've found nothing."

"So you've lost them?"

"I don't believe so," Vanitas continued, gritting his teeth at this second speaker's remark; the man thought too highly of himself, believing himself above Vanitas' own station. "Searching the area the wormhole should have exited thoroughly, the Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed found a complete absence of anything. Given their different sensory capabilities, the fact they all can't find _anything_ suggests to me there's a hidden world there. One shielded against those who walk in darkness."

"And how does this change my previous comment?" Seymour's continued dispassionate gaze belied the man's hidden cunning, trying to make himself more important to the master; Vanitas found it grating.

"We may not be able to get them as long as they remain in that world, but neither can they do anything to stop us." Vanitas replied simply.

"They have both the X-Blade and the seventh Princess of Heart," Seymour stated matter-of-factly, "They could prevent our victory simply by remaining where they are."

"Sora will never be satisfied with that," Xehanort's calm bass voice interrupted the two. "Riku might settle for a stalemate, but Sora will never allow 'evil' to run unchecked." Vanitas nodded at this conclusion, while Seymour merely shrugged. "While we must anticipate that Sora and his friends will be better prepared to face us, there is no doubt that they _will_ do so. Now, how is our... guest?"

"Still uncooperative," Seymour replied in his usual regal tone, "But it's only a matter of time. The seed of darkness is firmly implanted in his heart. He can only resist for so long." Vanitas just knew that he was planning something.

"Besides these small delays," Xehanort explained, "Things are still going to plan. Our greatest concern at this juncture is the one unknown variable: Namine."

"The blonde girl?" Vanitas sneered derisively. "What could she possibly do? She's a mere apprentice with no real training and next to no experience."

"Do not forget it was a 'mere apprentice' who bested you ten years ago Vanitas," Xehanort commented. "There are three sides to the Keyblade: the sword, the shield, and the staff. The sword, Sora, has his mirror in you Vanitas. The shield, Riku, has his mirror in me. The staff, Kairi, is mirrored by Seymour. What Namine is, is potential. She is all three of these sides at once, with the ability to focus on any one side at her whim. She is Sora's connection to all hearts, combined with the near-limitless power of the Princesses of Heart. If we are to succeed, we must bring her back into balance."

There was silence for a moment, before Seymour stated, "I think I know a way. By your leave, I will do my utmost to contact him."

o-o-o

The second awakening aboard the _Serenity_ proved to be less of a shock to Riku than the one before it; of course, that only meant than Riku was not shocked to find himself not alone in bed when he awoke. This morning, instead of being curled up behind him, she was partially sprawled over him, her head resting against his chest.

River began speaking softly almost the moment he was awake enough to comprehend her, remarking, "I can hear your heartbeats. Irregular. Two hearts, beating in perfect tandem, and a third beating between. Only one belongs to you. The rest are your shadow's." Her words still hanging in the air, the girl darted out of bed, and slipped out of the room, like she had the morning before.

This morning, however, instead of simply returning to sleep, Riku shot after her, hoping to catch her and ask what she had meant, and, more importantly, where she got this knowledge of him from. But as he slid the door open, mere seconds after it had closed in River's wake, it wasn't the lithe girl he saw; it was the stern, decidedly displeased form of Shepherd Book, arms folded, and standing in his doorway that caught the teen's attention. "Well," the Shepherd stated, tapping the Bible in his right hand against his left elbow, "Isn't this... special?"

Entering full panic mode, Riku began stammering, "I didn't- I mean... It's not what it- Uh, we didn't-"

"So, it would seem you have made a new friend." Book's tone was non-accusing, though brooking no argument. "I suppose Sora not being here implies where I might find him. My, my... Kids these days." As the Shepherd started to walk away, Riku almost thought he was off the hook, before the older man turned back around, adding, "For all her quirks, I believe River is an innocent enough girl, and if you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of Hell, one they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theatre." Blinking, he remarked to himself softly, "Strange how I have to lecture someone else on that so soon."

In an unusual moment of wit, considering the seriousness of the situation, Riku retorted, "Shepherd, I assure you, if anyone gets taken advantage of, it won't be her." Sparing the teen a wry smile, Shepherd Book headed off to greet the new day.

o-o-o

Life for River Tam was much like an eternal fever dream. Moments of clarity drifting amongst a fog of scattered thoughts without a thread of cohesion. The only true variable to River was the fog itself, and how thick it's hold on her. Some days, the fog would almost lift, and for a while, she could act like a person, whole and true; others, it smothered everything, leaving her lost in her ramblings and delusions.

At least, that's how her life had been until four days ago. Ever since the class-code 03-K64 Firefly Transport _Serenity_ had run across the Kingdom model _Highwind II_, the fog over her mind had felt lighter than ever before; though there was some concern over how she knew what type of ship that was.

Being this lucid for this long was a strange sensation for the lithe girl. She'd found, however, that her newfound normality was linked intrinsically to the four people Mal and the others had pulled off the _Highwind_. If she went too far away from them, even within the confines of the ship, she felt the darkness closing in again, but the clouds receded once more when she drew near them again.

Instinctively, she felt herself drawing closer to the violet-haired boy, Riku, because of the links already existing between the other three. At night, she found her feet moving without her control, leading her into his room, for reasons she couldn't understand. She found herself shadowing the four of them, both individually, and together. They intrigued her. Even now, as they shared stories with the others around the dinner table.

"So you're twins then?" Mal asked around half a mouthful of food.

"As close to identical as you can get without, you know, actually being identical," Namine remarked.

"So how come you two look so different then?" Kaylee glanced between the two of them. "I mean, Kairi just looks so much more..."

"Tan?" Kairi offered, to Kaylee's nod. "Well, that's because we grew up apart, until last year." At their inquisitive looks, she continued, "It's kind of a long story, but the short version is, I got lost at sea when I was four, and I washed up on the island chain these two lived on," she indicated the two boys, "with no memory of who I was, besides my name. The mayor adopted and raised me until, at fourteen, these two clowns got it in their heads they wanted to build a raft and explore the world."

"As you can imagine," Sora continued, "Things didn't work out too well. We got separated, and it took over a year before I managed to find everyone again. During my travels, I came across Namine, and discovered she was Kairi's sister. Unfortunately, by then, the girls' parents had... passed on." Smiling at the blonde girl, he added, "We couldn't let her be alone, so we adopted her, so to speak."

"It must have been really something," Wash remarked, "Discovering you had a sister after all that time."

Namine nodded, a sad sort of smile coming to her face. "It's taken quite a bit of adapting. I've been alone... for so long." Smiling a bit wider, and a lot happier, she added, "I'm still getting used to it, but, things are so much better now."

"Sister's share everything," River stated suddenly, words spilling forth with little control. "Clothes, make-up, secrets. Even boyfriends."

There was complete silence around the table as that statement filtered through, save for the continued sounds of River eating. After a few moments of gaping, Kaylee glanced between Kairi and Namine, before staring directly at Sora and asking breathlessly, "You're... seeing, both of them?"

Riku couldn't help but laugh, seeing the embarrassed look on all three of their faces, as Sora stammered out, "Uh... yeah. We're not really trying to hide it, but... well, a lot of people just wouldn't understand."

Standing up from the table, Jayne excused himself with a gruff, "I'll be in my bunk."

"Well, that made an awkward situation more awkward," Mal stated, almost apologising in a round-about way.

Glancing over at Riku, Simon added, "I... I thought you were with Namine."

Riku suppressed a wince, his laughter trailing off as he replied, "No. She's... well, she's always only had eyes for Sora." As those of the _Serenity_ turned their questions to Sora and the girls, Riku quietly excused himself.

o-o

Sitting on a pile of crates in the cargo bay, Riku couldn't stop his mind on ruminating on the many problems weighing his heart down. While Riku knew he hadn't meant to, Simon's comment hurt, reminding him of his recent epiphany about Kairi; Namine was, after all, Kairi's reflection.

Honestly, Riku was genuinely happy for Sora. Kairi and Namine too. Given everything that had happened to all of them, if they could find happiness in each other, they had his full support. It didn't help ease his own deep sense of loneliness though.

In a flash of light, Way to the Dawn appeared in his hand, drawing his attention. In a way, he couldn't help but lay a lot of his problems on the Keyblade. All the anger that had built up inside him since he began to believe that Sora stole 'his' Keyblade, and since he let that witch Maleficent convince him that his friend had turned his back on him; his life had swiftly started going downhill. His obsession with reclaiming what he thought was rightfully his had almost cost him everything he'd ever had.

With a snarl, Riku hurled his Keyblade across the cargo bay. It took him a minute to realise that he never heard the sound of it hitting the ground. Glancing up, Riku couldn't help but gape when he saw that River was standing there, staring at him, with Day to the Dawn held in her hand.

"In your hand, take this Key." River intoned, as the Keyblade emitted a brief glow. "So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend; no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

And from on high, Shepherd Book watched the proceedings below, a grim look on his face as he remarked to himself, "Well, this complicates things."

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Wow, that took a lot longer to write than I thought it would. I do apologise for that, I thought I'd be finished weeks ago, but I just couldn't focus my attention to writing for as long a time as I needed to complete it sooner.

This is chapter two of three in the Firefly/Serenity arc. It would interest me to know if anyone can guess what worlds they might visit next.


	3. Those Left Behind, part 1

"Well, that was... embarrassing."

"Kai, you had to know that was the sort of reaction people would have when they found out about us," Namine replied somewhat airily, given the rosy colour in her own cheeks. "I mean, you suggested it, and I don't exactly remember you using complete sentences."

"I'm just glad we were able to get out of there when we did," Kairi added, "I thought they were gonna hound us for hours."

Sitting down heavily on the bed in their shared room, Namine commented, "Well, I expect Kaylee at least to keep asking us for more details once she digests what we've told her already. Maybe Inara too, but I think she'd be more accepting than most."

Sitting down next to her sister, and covering her face with a pillow as she leant back against the wall, Kairi mumbled, "I'm just glad we're not gonna be here much longer..." Pulling the pillow off her face, she turned her attention to the only one still standing, asking, "We're not, are we Sora?"

"Riku and I have a plan in the works. Just a few problems left that need working out," Sora replied, leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the doorway from the sliding door. "We need to find Master Aqua, but other than that she's in the Realm of Darkness, and that only by opening the Door to Light can she be rescued, we have no idea where to find her. So that's our first mission: find a way to locate her accurately enough to get to her."

"I assume you wouldn't be bringing this up if you didn't know of a way."

"There's probably a few ways," Sora replied with a bit of a shrug, "But the first one that came to mind was Jack's compass. So long as you know what you're looking for, that compass is supposed to be able to point the way."

"How are we going to get Jack to give us his compass?" Namine asked.

"That's problem number two," Sora replied with a sheepish grin. "Knowing Jack, he'll have some exorbitant price. Last time I was there, he asked for the Keyblade. It's unlikely that he'll accept the same answer twice, so we'll need to find something he wants."

Resting her head against the wall again, Kairi prompted, "Do we even know the compass will work outside of Port Royal?"

"That one's the third problem," Sora admitted. "You're right, we have no guarantee it'll work. But it's our best bet."

There was silence for a moment, before Namine asked the obvious question, and the one Sora was honestly surprised hadn't been asked already. "Uh, Sora? How are we going to get to Port Royal without a ship?"

"And that would be the first problem," Sora explained, "Riku's already tried and failed to open a Dark Corridor, and I've had similar luck with whatever those portals are I can open now, though those are apparently short range, according to Hermes. And, of course, even if Mal and the others hadn't pulled some parts off the ship, I don't know if we'd have enough parts to construct a working ship out of what was left. Way I see it, the biggest problem is gonna be getting off this world."

"Actually Sora," Riku's voice called out from behind him, "We have bigger problems."

"Riku?" Kairi questioned, "What could be a bigger problem then the fact we're trapped here?"

"River _caught_ my Keyblade."

"She did WHAT?" Sora exclaimed, knowing exactly what it meant that she could do that; Kairi and Namine, on the other hand, were more shocked and disappointed in Riku for even summoning it here.

"It gets worse," Riku added, "She recited the ritual for the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony. _I_ don't even really remember all of it, I just know inside she got right word for word."

"Light," Namine cursed, "Could it get any worse?"

Turning to her boyfriend, Kairi asked, "What do we do now Sora?"

"I think I could help with that," a new voice remarked, giving all of them a fright as Shepherd Book rounded the corner.

One hand over his heart, Sora stated, "Shepherd Book, you scared us." Taking a moment to collect himself, he continued, "I'm going to assume you've been listening for a while then? No offence Shepherd, but what could you possibly understand about what we're talking about?"

The reply was swift, but not a form anyone could have guessed, as the Shepherd merely raised one hand, a flash of light heralding the arrival of a gunmetal grey Keyblade, looking exactly like an old fashioned skeleton key, the teeth one solid block, with two holes in it forming a blocky 'B', but without any of the embellishments they'd come to expect from Keyblades; even the guard was the same deep grey colour. His voice its usual calm and knowing tone, Shepherd Book answered, "A few things."

As Sora gaped, Riku swallowed his tongue, and Kairi raised one hand to her mouth, both to cover her own shock and to adopt a thoughtful pose, Namine tilted her head to one side slightly, understating the situation with a simple dry, "Huh."

* * *

- Shades of Grey -

- Dance of Light and Shadow -

Chapter 03 - Those Left Behind, part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

Additional Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly, Serenity, or any other license to do with any part of the series. If I did, I wouldn't have cancelled the series after one season, like those idiots at that 3-letter network beginning with 'F' and ending with 'X'.

* * *

The shocked silence was broken when Kairi, her thoughts collected, exclaimed excitedly, "I knew it! I knew there was something odd about you; River too. When I tried to get a read on you a couple days ago, there was a strange familiarity to your heart. It's been bugging me that I couldn't figure it out, but now I know; I was sensing your ability to use the Keyblade. I didn't pick up on it because everyone else I know who can _would_ feel familiar to me."

"You're one of the Lost Masters," Sora remarked, a note of awe in his voice.

A hint of a smile on his face as he lowered his weapon, but did not dismiss it, Shepherd Book replied, "That would depend on your definition of 'lost'. Unfortunately, before this conversation can continue any further, I will need you to answer a question, and the answer you give will determine whether the tone of this discussion remains civil." Sora nodded his acceptance on those terms. "Why do you oppose Master Xehanort?"

Sora and Riku shared a look, before the younger teen commented, "Either you've been out of the loop for a long time, or you're right about things being less than civil."

Before Shepherd Book could comment further, Riku explained, "Master Xehanort turned on the Order almost twelve years ago. He slew Master Eraqus, as good as killed his three apprentices, and cast the Land of Departure into Darkness."

Raising one eyebrow, Shepherd Book remarked, "If this is indeed true, how could any of you know about it? Unless I'm mistaken about your ages, you couldn't have been more than four at the time."

"I was five," Riku corrected, before continuing, "But you're right, we weren't involved. The closest we came is when Terra selected me to be his successor, and meeting Master Aqua. We know because Mickey Mouse, Master Yen Sid's apprentice, was there during the final confrontation." Sighing slightly, he added, "And because Sora and I have inherited the hearts and memories of two of Master Eraqus' apprentices, though both have only awakened in the last week or so."

"Riku's was a recent acquisition," Sora stated, shrugging as he added, "According to Ventus' memories, our hearts have been connected almost since I was born."

"And do you have any proof of your claims?"

Sharing another look with Riku, Sora took a step away from the group, holding out one hand as he summoned the X-Blade. "This was the second time Xehanort tried to use Ventus' heart to create this," Sora explained, "But this time, the two hearts did not reject one another. This, the X-Blade, is what Xehanort believes the ancient Keyblade War was about, and he will stop at nothing to get this." In a flash of light, Sora dismissed the massive weapon again.

Nodding, Shepherd Book dismissed his own Keyblade, stating, "Perhaps you should share the full story with me, and we can go from there."

o-o-o

"Gawrsh Donald, are ya sure this is a good idea?"

"Oh pipe down you big palooka," Donald replied dismissively, "Leon's the last person to see the king before he disappeared again."

Glancing around nervously, Goofy asked, "Ya don't think they're behind him goin' missin' do ya?"

Truth be told, Donald was worried that this was exactly what had happened, but he wasn't going to admit that, instead answering confidently, "Of course not. The king must've found something on the computer that he had to check out right away. We just need to find out what that was so we know where he went."

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Goofy let the conversation drop, and the two walked in silence for a while; well, as much silence as a pair of anthropomorphic animals, one with swim fins for feet, the other in parts of a suit of armour, could manage. The silence lasted until they drew closer to the castle, and saw a figure pacing back and forth that neither of them expected to find.

Blinking back his shock at seeing the bulky form of Pete on Radiant Garden, Goofy asked, "What're ya doin' here?"

Without turning to face them, or even seeming to notice who was speaking, Pete replied, "I gots vital info dat dose Keybrats need ta know, and dese're tha only folks I know who can pass it on. 'Cept I'm not 'zactly dere fav'rite person right now."

"You're not exactly our 'favourite person' either doofus," Donald quacked irritably.

As if finally realising that he was talking to actual people and not just to himself, Pete paused in his pacing and turned to have them, his face morphing into something of a scowl as he barked, "Whadda you knuckleheads doin' 'ere?"

Donald squawked something angry and unintelligible that all in earshot took to mean 'none of your business' before replying, "We're asking the questions! What's that witch Maleficent got you doing here?"

Pete visibly deflated, all the fight seeming to evaporate out of him. "Maleficent's gone," he remarked sadly, "Dat fruitcake Seymour she had workin' fer her done said she'd played her part, and had 'left the stage'..."

As Donald warked in shock, Goofy asked, "He... killed her?" Anyone who could kill Maleficent was a serious threat.

Pete shook his head slowly. "Naw, not him. He said somefin' about her bein' a puppet, not da puppet master, and dat some 'Dark Master' cut her strings. I did'n stay ta find out who dat was."

"Dark Master?" Donald questioned, turning to Goofy and asking, "Who could that be?"

"Gawrsh, I dunno," Goofy replied, adding slowly, "You don't 'spose that's why the king ran off again do you?"

Eyes widening in sudden realization, Donald remarked, "If this guy could take out Maleficent, the king might be in grave danger. We gotta go find him."

"But how're we gonna get to the castle?" Goofy pondered, "If that portal we used before still exists, it'll be crawling with Heartless, and we ain't got no Keyblade." As one, the two of them came to the same answer, turning towards Pete.

"Whaddya lookin' at me fer?" Pete asked, realising the answer to his question moments later. "Oh no, I'm not goin' back dere. Dem Nobodies'll kill me."

"Ah phooey," Donald waved a hand absently, "We can handle the Nobodies."

"Come on," Goofy prodded, "We gotta save the king!"

Pete pondered for a few moments, before stating firmly, "I do dis fer you, you put in a good word fer me ta tha queen to undo my banishment."

Donald wasted no time, putting out his hand to shake and stating, "Deal."

o-o-o

"Simon, we need to talk. It concerns your sister."

"Has something happened to River?" Simon asked hurriedly, casting his eyes up to the top level of the hangar where he'd last seen her; to his relief, she was still there, watching.

Though Simon was obviously calmer now, Sora still remarked, "No, she's fine." Glancing around at the rest of the crew quickly, he explained, "I didn't want to disturb your morning game of... whatever that was, but it's pretty important. I would've waited to get you alone to talk about it, but the crew could probably stand to hear it too, unless the captain objects." Turning his attention to Mal, Sora added, "It also concerns what we discussed the other night."

Mal nodded his acceptance. "I've already explained the important stuff to Zoe, who has no doubt told Wash a few things. I don't reckon I mind if the others know too."

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Sora turned back to Simon and began with, "Talking things over with the others last night, we realised there's no way we can explain things without sounding like complete crackpots, so for now I'm just gonna ask you to suspend disbelief for a bit and believe me when I say that everything I'm going to tell you is the truth." A sceptical look came to Simon's face, but he did nod. "Okay then. Well, when we said we weren't from around here, we didn't just mean we weren't from this area. We aren't even from this world." At the blank look he got, Sora added, "The best short description we could come up with that you'd hopefully understand was that we're inter-dimensional travellers."

"Wait, inter-dimensional?" Wash piped up, "Isn't that a bit sci-fi?"

One eyebrow raised, Namine pointed out from behind Sora, "You live on a space ship."

"So?"

Resting against a pile of crates, Mal remarked, "I'm guessin' Zoe missed a few things..."

"Think of it this way," Riku continued, "This 'Verse you live in? That's a single, self-contained 'World', though it contains quite a few 'planets'. There are countless Worlds out there; most every star in the sky is another World, though if nothing else, this one has proven that sometimes, a star the big ball of fire it appears to be."

Kaylee, as always, was the first to ask a question; "So how do you travel between worlds?"

"It's not easy," Riku stated, "Each World has a sort of barrier around it, to prevent travelling both to and from that world. Some times these barriers weaken, allowing people to slip in or out, and in extreme cases, they can even shatter, allowing free travel."

"There's a few ways to travel between worlds, some better than others," Sora picked up from there, "That ship you pulled us off? It's built from the same material as the barriers around Worlds, which allows it to slip through barriers that are still otherwise resistant to travel, making it the best current method."

Folding his arms in front of his chest, Simon barked, "This is a fascinating story, but how does any of this concern River?"

"There's a war," Kairi explained softly, her voice carrying across the hangar. "A war between the Light and the Darkness. Currently, the Darkness is winning." Staring directly into Simon's eyes, she finished strongly, "River has been chosen to join the fight."

o-o-o

"Have you had any luck hailing them yet?"

"That's a solid 'negative'," Cid snarled, spinning away from his computer to face the head of the Restoration Committee in disgust at the machine's failure. "We lost all trace of the _Highwind_ when it passed through the exit gate, but what telemetry got sent back before then doesn't look good."

His face remaining neutral, despite the storm raging inside his eyes, Squall 'Leon' Leonhart folded his arms, leaning against the wall beside the doorway, asking simply, "How bad?"

Shaking his head slowly, Cid scowled. "About as bad as it gets. Shields and weapons offline. Wing missing, sending it into an uncontrollable spin. Thrusters barely operational, and core critical. Hull breeched, and Heartless ships swarmin' like locusts. Hell, it's damn near a miracle we were still able to get telemetry from it at all; near as I can tell, that was about the only system still online."

"I wouldn't worry about the kid," Cloud remarked, his completed Fusion Swords resting against the back of the couch he lounged in nearby, "He's lived through worse odds. Besides, the Heartless wouldn't destroy the ship; whoever's controlling them needs Kairi alive, and likely Sora too."

With an exaggerated sigh, and an air of forced cheerfulness, Zack remarked, "I guess that upgrades them from 'missing, assumed dead' to 'missing, assumed captured'." Shrugging as he cast his gaze around the room, he added, "That's a step in the right direction, right?"

"It doesn't do much to change our priorities though," Squall stated, turning to Vincent and continuing, "If anything, it makes our mission for you that much more important. We're lucky Nanaki overheard that oaf Pete talking to Donald and Goofy, but that information only raises more questions."

"Agreed," Vincent nodded, flexing the fingers of his gauntleted hand, "We need to find out everything we can about this 'Seymour', and the 'Dark Master' he serves, if we are to be prepared for them." His face a mask of grim seriousness, he added, "I have a few suspicions about the latter I need to confirm, but the former is a complete mystery to me."

"I believe I can be of assistance there," a new voice announced. Turning to face the newcomer, the Restoration Committee were greeted by a man in a long blood red coat, with blue lining and gold-inlayed brown shoulders, held closed by a thick black and blue belt. Beneath that, he wore a black bodysuit with a tall grey collar covering his mouth, and black, metal-plated boots. His left arm was held inside the open coat, like a sling, while his right hand held a green-and-hold handled, serrated-edged greatsword. His short, spiky black hair and grim smile, made all the more menacing by the scar sealing his right eye shut, completed the package.

Before Squall could question the man on how he had managed to enter the establishment unannounced, or ask why he was here, he noticed the look on Vincent's face, half shock and half awe, as the usually stoic man asked haltingly, "Sir Auron? Why... How are you here? You're dead!"

The man identified as Auron just smiled, a handful of pearlescent lights known as 'pyreflies' beginning to drift from his body, as he replied, "Death isn't the handicap that it used to be."

o-o-o

"River's been 'chosen'? Well **un-**choose her," Simon scowled. "She's a mentally traumatised seventeen-year-old girl."

"That makes her older than the rest of us," Riku pointed out.

Namine added, "And none of us are without scars, though you can't always see them."

"Besides," Kairi shrugged, "It's not our choice anyway."

Changing the subject slightly, Inara asked, "What do you mean by 'Light' and 'Darkness'? Is it just some spiritual belief?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, the powers of Light and Darkness are very real, though I guess they go by many names: Order and Chaos; Harmony and Discord; and Creation and Destruction to name a few. To some, they also represent Good and Evil, though that one's more of a generalization than a truism."

"Wait a minute," Jayne interrupted, "How come we ain't ever seen no other inter-whatsit travellers if'n you can go between Worlds."

"Maybe you have," Sora replied with a helpless shrug, "Most people from other worlds don't look any less 'normal' than any of you. Maybe there have been other people who have come here, and either been written off as crazies, or just did their best to blend in. There's all these rules about not meddling in the affairs of other worlds, or even letting the people there know other worlds exist."

A wry grin on his face, Mal asked, "And the reason you folk're not obeyin' these rules?"

A sheepish smile on his face as he laced his fingers behind his head, Sora replied, "Well, I've always used them more like guidelines than actual rules, but mostly, it's because of River." Quickly sobering, he added in a more serious tone, "You've got to understand, as much as we would've liked to help River prior to her being chosen, we couldn't have, because it could have had countless unforseen repercussions."

Still scowling, Simon stated, "Even if I believed all of this, there is still no way I would let you get River involved. This 'war' you speak of, is about _your_ world, not ours."

"This is about ALL Worlds," Sora shot back firmly, dropping his hands, "Look, I'm willing to cut you some slack because you don't know what's really going on, but this is no time to stick your head in the sand. River is _already_ involved by virtue of being chosen to wield the Keyblade. Xehanort, the man heading the forces of Darkness, is on the cusp of acquiring the power to erase and re-write **reality** as he wishes, and he has invested a lot of time and manpower in to converting or wiping out every Keyblade Wielder he could find, because they, we, are the only ones who can stop him. Believe me when I tell you that if we could find our way here, he's already planning out a way to do the same. So unless you want her either turned into a mindless weapon, or killed outright, you need to let us help her."

"The last people who tried to 'help' River opened up her skull and cut into her brain for their sick experiments," Simon retorted blandly, "I've seen the damage they did to her, and it's not repairable, so how pray tell do you intend to help River when medical science has failed?"

"Easy," Kairi shrugged, "There's a few White Magic spells I know of that could-" She cut off as she saw Sora wince, a slight hiss escaping his mouth. "What?"

Sighing, as Riku slapped his forehead and Namine shook her head slowly, Sora replied, "Kai, we were trying to avoid using the 'M' word, remember? Because-"

Before Sora could explain the reason, he was interrupted by an example of it when Simon barked sternly, "Magic. Isn't. Real." He uncrossed his arms, fully prepared to walk out, only to find Shepherd Book behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a look that said he should stay right where he is.

"What makes you so sure?" Namine piped up. "Because you haven't seen it? You can't see air either, but you believe that exists don't you?"

"You may not be able to see air, but it can be demonstrated that it exists," Simon explained.

"Then all we need is a demonstration," Sora remarked, turning to the others and asking, "Anyone got a knife?" All eyes of the crew turned to Jayne who, after rolling his eyes at them, reached behind him and produced a combat knife, pre-empting the follow-up question by striding over and handing it to Sora handle-first. Taking a deep breath, Sora muttered, "I'm probably going to regret this," before holding the blade of the knife in his left hand and, gritting his teeth, cutting the palm of his hand. Showing Simon and the others his new wound as he handed the knife back, he then held his right hand over his left, incanting, "Cure," before green tendrils of energy, almost looking like vines, extended from his right palm to wrap around his left hand, fading away in moments to reveal unmarked, albeit bloodied, skin. Showing the crew his newly healed hand, Sora asked, "So, any more questions?"

Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, Simon replied, "What do you need me to do?"

o-o-o

"Seymour was once from Radiant Garden, much like you and I, though unlike us, he was not a native." Auron explained, "He and his mother came to this world as refugees when he was young, though something happened to her not long after, and she passed on. I didn't know his that well myself, as he was apprenticed to the court wizard Balthazar at the time, but I knew him by his reputation, which quickly rose, as he became well known not just for his skill in magic, but for being one of Radiant Garden's few remaining summoners."

"Wait, what? He's a summoner?" Zack interrupted, a confused look on his face, "But I thought the last of Radiant Garden's summoners died something like thirty or forty years ago."

"They did," Auron replied, "And Seymour did everything he could to ensure he would be the last."

"Why?"

"To this day, I don't rightly know," Auron half-shrugged. "From what I was told, he began believing that all life suffered before dying, only to be born again and suffer anew, and he had made it his mission to ensure the 'cycle of death' was broken. He had targeted the summoners first because they were, he believed, the only ones who could stop him and his Aeon Anima; a twisted thing, forged from the deceased soul of his mother. I was part of the division tasked with proving him wrong."

"Given your current state, I can guess how that went," Squall commented wryly.

"Actually, we were successful, though Anima did give me this," Auron indicated the scar on his face, "The trouble was, killing him didn't end the trouble." Vincent visibly stiffened, and the older warrior nodded to him, confirming his concerns. "Vincent, and possibly Cid, are perhaps old enough to remember that long before the Heartless became a concern, Radiant Garden still had a problem with supernatural monsters. As you may know, when a person dies, their heart returns to Kingdom Hearts, to be born anew, while their soul passes on to the afterlife. Sometimes, however, the soul does not pass on, becoming what we knew as an 'Unsent'."

"Why didn't they pass on?" Zack asked, his usual boisterousness toned down.

"Usually, because they could not accept that their time among the living was over," Auron explained, "Purposeless and unable to cope, these souls invariably gave in to their sadness, which lead to anger at the living for still having what they did not. Consumed by malice, they became twisted creatures called 'Fiends', whose only purpose was to prey on the living, and take life from those who did not suffer their own fate. Fiends were, in many ways, like Heartless; they could be slain by anyone with the skill, but they would always return unless the soul was Sent to the afterlife. And it was this Sending that was the primary task for the summoners."

"So that's why he went after them first," Cloud reasoned, "He knew, or at least suspected, that if he died he'd become an Unsent, and without a summoner to Send him, he'd be eternal."

Auron nodded, "Precisely. Sometimes, an Unsent, such as Seymour, managed to retain its human form, because unlike those that became Fiends, they had a purpose they felt they needed to fulfil. I myself became an Unsent when I was slain during my second attempt to end him. An Unsent can, in fact, Send itself at any time should it accept its death, so a Summoner is only requires to perform a Sending if the soul is unwilling; Fiends, however, never possess enough reasoning or thought to _be_ willing."

"Was he ever actually defeated?" Squall asked, unable to hide the concern in his voice.

Auron nodded again. "After a hard-fought battle, he was brought down, and one of our last summoners, a mere novice without any Aeons of her own, performed the Sending. It was then that I willingly passed to the world beyond, the task that had kept me here completed. And it was there I remained, until a month past, when Hades was freed from his prison, and with him, many powerful, depraved souls, Seymour among them. What was my task then is again my task now."

"So you and he are both Unsent again?" Vincent asked. "The term does not seem accurate considering the circumstances."

"You are correct on both counts," Auron replied, "While the name does not take into account the fact we both have been Sent, and have escaped the afterlife again, we are indeed that type of being. The inaccuracy is much the same as that of the Heartless or Nobodies, who are not, in fact, without hearts or bodies, respectively."

"Wait a god-damned minute here!" Cid exclaimed, "If there's a bunch o' Unsent runnin' around, does that mean we're likely to see Fiends again?"

"It is quite possible," Auron agreed, "And with no summoner to Send them, we may be in for interesting times ahead."

o-o-o

"River, you need to go to sleep now," Simon explained, with the long-suffered patience of an older brother used to dealing with a quirky sister. "Kairi and Namine, they think they can help you get better. No more drugs. Just my beautiful baby sister. But you've gotta go to sleep for it to work, okay? I'm going to give you something to help you sleep."

"Light the fires that cast the fog away," River intoned quietly, laying back on the infirmary chair like her brother instructed, "A stained-glass window, broken, like a jigsaw puzzle, but the pieces are all the wrong shape."

"That's right River," Namine replied softly, holding one of the girl's hands. "Kairi and I are going to put the puzzle back together again. She's going to make sure your mind knows what shape they are, and I'm going to reassemble them."

"Not all the pieces are mine," River added, her voice taking on a note of distress, "I shouldn't have to carry them, they aren't mine!"

"Shh, it's okay River," Kairi stated soothingly, trying to keep the older girl calm as Simon performed the injection. "We're going to put things back to the way they should be. If they're not meant to be there, they won't be, okay?" The two girls continued to whisper calming nothings as the girl slowly dropped off.

"You could make sense of what she was saying?" Simon asked, disposing of the needle.

Nodding, Namine replied, "Her psyche is fractured, I can see it, and try as she might, she can't make everything go back together again. If she's right, some of the memories in her head aren't her memories at all."

"The captain does seem to think she's a Reader," Simon commented, "So if she truly can read the minds of others, that might be possible. What was all that talk about a stained glass window though?"

"It's the most common representation of the heart, where memories reside," Kairi explained, before dragging him over to the display screen and continuing, "Now, show me the damage done to her brain. Namine can help rebuild her mind, but it won't do any good if we can't stop it breaking again."

o-o

"Stop me if I'm outta line here," Mal started, "But you've mentioned the word 'Keyblade' a few times; I'm guessin' it's some kind of weapon, but what makes it so special people'd kill for it?"

"It's quite alright Captain Reynolds," Sora reassured the man, glancing briefly at the remaining crew members; Kaylee and Inara had gone to watch as the girls cured River, and Wash had gone to make sure they 'weren't about to crash into anything', leaving just Mal, Zoe, Jayne, and Shepherd Book left, "Now that Kairi's broken the ice about magic, I can explain it more easily than I could have otherwise. Simply put, the Keyblade is an ancient artefact powered by the wielder's strength of Heart."

"When we say 'Heart' in this sense, we don't mean the physical thing that pumps blood around your body," Riku continued, "It's hard to explain exactly, but think of the 'Heart' as a magical representation of everything that defines a person: emotions, memories, instincts. The sum total of who we were, are, and will be. In this sense, everything that lives has a Heart, even the very ground you stand on." Grinning wryly as he cast his eyes around _Serenity_'s hold, he corrected himself, "Well, maybe not this ground, exactly, but the world you live in certainly."

"So how does a person get one o' those Keyblades then?" Jayne asked in his usual drawl.

"In the most technical sense, you already have one," Sora replied with a shrug, "Every heart that exists has a Keyblade that represents it. However, only a small handful of people have the strength of Heart to be able to _wield_ the Keyblade." In a flash of light, he summoned the Kingdom Key to his hand, adding, "This is mine, in it's truest form. Here, why don't you see if you've got what it takes?" That said, he carefully threw the Keyblade towards Jayne.

Catching it with a grunt, the man adjusted his grip on it, remarking, "Gotta bit o' weight to it. Kinda awk-" He cut off when the weapon disappeared in a burst of light, reappearing in Sora's hand again. Stunned, he asked, "What just happened?"

Sora shrugged, replying simply, "You weren't chosen." Banishing the weapon again, he added, "I wouldn't let it bother you. Less than one percent of any world has the potential, and fewer of those ever get chosen to realise their potential."

As Zoe and Jayne continued to ask questions about how exactly a person was chosen, Mal walked over to where Shepherd Book still stood, quietly asking the man a question that had been bothering him for a while. "Why so quiet Shepherd? I would've figured all this talk about 'magic' and 'hearts' would've right rubbed your beliefs the wrong way."

Shepherd Book just smiled cryptically, replying just as quietly, "Wasn't born a Shepherd, Mal."

* * *

Author's Notes

As a quick aside, Pete is a _mongrel_ to write dialogue for, and every time I do so, it offends all of my literary senses, and makes my spellchecker explode. I'm just glad I can't even comprehend how to type Donald's accent...

I am incredibly sorry it took this long to write this chapter. First, I got a serious Pokemon addiction with the release of Pokemon Black, and just when I had managed to kick that habit, bam, Dissidia 012 (duodecim) was released. It's like Sony and Nintendo are conspiring with each other to kill what remains of my free time.

Then, as if this chapter hadn't taken long enough, when I had nearly finished it I realised it was _way_ too long for a single chapter, and had to do a bit of reworking to break it into two. Fortunately, the second part of this chapter is already written, and will be posted next Saturday, if only to space the two of them out a little bit.

Hopefully, further chapters will take less time to write, as for most of them I have planned, I have an actual plot I can follow.


	4. Those Left Behind, part 2

"Any luck?" Simon asked, a hopeful tone to his voice. The girls had been working, such that it was, for roughly four hours now, and showed no sign of slowing down any time soon.

"Plenty," Kairi replied, her eyes closed and her fingertips resting against River's temples, "And not all of it bad too. I've managed to find the damaged brain, and you're right, they really did a number on it. If it was a fresh wound I could heal it a lot easier, but given the age, and amount of damage, I've got to stimulate it to grow back on it's own. It'll take a bit of time, but fortunately, with you and Namine here I've got a couple of healthy brains to examine to make sure it's regrowing properly."

"Even so, you'll probably still be done before me," Namine groused, her hands clasping River's own over the older girl's heart. "It's a mess in here. Not only are all of her memories scattered and jumbled, they're linked together that way, so I've got to disconnect everything and try and put them back in the right order." Pausing a moment, she added, "At least I can confirm that River is, in fact, a Reader."

"What makes you so sure?" Simon replied warily.

Shrugging, Namine answered, "Because there's memories in here that I recognize as Sora's." Before Simon could question her on how, exactly, she recognized Sora's memories, she remarked, "Uh, Simon, I'm not exactly sure how to say this, but from what I'm seeing, the damage done to her psyche was self-inflicted."

A note of anger creeping into his voice, he asked, "So you're saying River _wants_ to be like this?"

Opening her eyes to look at him, and thus pausing her work, she shrugged helplessly and stated, "Not consciously, but yeah, kinda. I mean, I'm not saying the physical damage to her brain didn't accelerate things, but her psyche did this to itself."

Spouting something she didn't understand that could only have been a curse, Simon then added, "Why would she want that?"

"I don't know yet," Namine answered, "But at this stage, my best guess is that she Read a memory her mind wasn't able to handle, so it fractured to hide it, before it could shatter her completely."

* * *

- Shades of Grey -

- Dance of Light and Shadow -

Chapter 04 - Those Left Behind, part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

Additional Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly, Serenity, or any other license to do with any part of the series. If I did, I wouldn't have cancelled the series after one season, like those idiots at that 3-letter network beginning with 'F' and ending with 'X'.

* * *

"So, Shepherd, you said you knew of a way for us to leave this world?" Questions answered, the rest of the crew had gone about their business, leaving Riku free to ask.

"I'm a little surprised you don't know this way yourself," Shepherd Book replied, "I can see the Mark of Mastery in both you and Sora, yet you are missing two of the fundamental trainings a Keyblade Apprentice receives. This does, however, lend credence to your story of the Order having been destroyed."

"So Keyblade wielders are the only ones able to use this means of travel?" Sora asked.

Shaking his head slightly, the Shepherd stated, "Well no, there are quite possibly other ways of using the Lanes Between, and it's possible your Gummi Ships use them as well, but this particular method does require a Keyblade, yes. After all, most travel between worlds was the exclusive purview of members of the Order." Clearing his throat, he continued in a lecturing tone, "The Heart does more than just provide us with a means to fight the Darkness. It also can grant us the means with which to protect ourselves from that selfsame Darkness, in the form of armour."

Eyes widening, Sora remarked, "I remember now. Or rather, Ventus does. They called it Keyblade Armour, and mainly used it as protection from the Darkness lurking in the Lanes Between."

"Precisely," Shepherd Book nodded, "And do you, or he, remember the ways with which they traversed the Lanes?"

Closing his eyes for a moment, he cast his gaze deep into his heart, searching for the memory, before replying, "The Keyblade Glider."

Shepherd Book nodded once more. "The Glider is an advanced technique, one that Kairi and Namine may not be able to use yet, and River, especially, will not. The Armour, however, you must teach them before you leave, as I must teach you both now. We will begin first with the Armour."

o-o-o

"Master, may we speak a moment?"

Xehanort paused, turning to address his apprentice, noting that Vanitas has waited to talk until all others in the Castle were long out of earshot. Nodding, he answered, "Speak freely."

Removing his helmet, Vanitas looked his master in the eyes and asked, "Has our mission changed?" When Xehanort sent him a questioning, yet disapproving look, he continued, "It's just... My understanding of our mission was that we were to acquire Kingdom Hearts and redress the balance between Light and Darkness. But these newcomers... The warlock goes on about 'ending the spiral of death' when he thinks nobody is listening, and now that... whatever it is he brought in, and all of its talk about returning things to the Void..."

Folding his arms, Xehanort glared at him, barking, "So, you began to doubt my resolve, is that it?"

"No, of course not master." Vanitas knew he was treading on thin ice here. "It's just... I believe the warlock is planning to destroy Kingdom Hearts, and I was... concerned. Concerned that what I was doing was not aligned with your goals." Vanitas was mildly proud of his wordsmithing, managing to turn the idea that, perhaps he was doubting his master into a worry about himself being out of line.

Fortunately for Vanitas continued existence, Xehanort seemed to accept his wording, brushing off his concerns with, "Our plans have not changed. Do not concern yourself with Seymour or his comrade. Their duplicity does not go unnoticed." Question over, he continued his stride, adding, "I give them their run of freedom, and hollow platitudes, as long as their means serve my ends. They will be dealt with, either by my hand, or by Sora and his, before they threaten my goal."

Nodding his head as he fell into step behind his master, Vanitas remarked, "Of course Master, I apologise for doubting my mission."

"Well, isn't this **cozy**?" A disembodied voice sneered, moments before a Dark Corridor opened before the two of them, and the silver-haired figure of Xurik stepped through, still dressed in the purple-and-black 'Dark Mode' bodysuit. "You acting like a real person now are you _Number Thirteen_? And who's this geezer?"

A scowl coming to his face, Vanitas replied, "He is Master Xehanort, and you would be advised to be respectful."

Xehanort, however, smiled; the type of smile you get when you find a tool or a part you thought you'd lost and had to replace. "Ah, Xurik. It would seem we are a man up; I had thought Riku had destroyed you."

"Not for lack of trying," Xurik growled, summoning Way to the Dusk with a swipe of his hand, before pointing it's tip at Xehanort and asking, "Now who the hell are you, why the hell are you here, and where the hell is that damn witch? I've got a pound of flesh I need to cut out."

"As my protege already mentioned, my name is Master Xehanort," he replied smoothly, "But perhaps you may remember me as Xemnas?" He felt a deep sense of satisfaction at the shock, simulated though it was, that came to Xurik's face. "He was my Nobody, which should explain my being here. As for Maleficent, however..." He smiled coldly. "I'm afraid she has no pounds of flesh to spare. She outlived her usefulness, and has already been dealt with."

"Pity. Was looking forward to that." Banishing his Keyblade, he appraised Xehanort, remarking, "So, if you want this Castle that means you're after Kingdom Hearts. Which means you're gonna run afoul of Sora and Riku before too long. Well I want in."

Vanitas couldn't help but roll his eyes at the thought that Xurik ever _wasn't_ working for his master already. Xehanort himself, however, simply stated, "You will have your part to play in the coming events, worry not." Deeming the matter over, Xehanort continued on, Vanitas again falling into step behind him.

The latter was paused again when Xurik grabbed his shoulder, examining the other teen's face as he asked quietly, "You're not Roxas at all, are you?"

Shrugging the Nobody off, Vanitas snapped his helmet back on, calling back as he hurried his pace to catch up to Xehanort, "My name is Vanitas. Remember it well." Shaking his head, Xurik headed off towards his quarters, thinking back to a time when things still made sense.

o-o-o

"Okay," Namine remarked tiredly, releasing River's hands and sitting up, "I've done everything I can. The rest is up to her."

"What does that mean?" Simon asked, "You couldn't fix her?"

Shaking her head slowly as Kairi helped her to her feet, the redheaded girl having finished long ago, Namine replied, "No, I've reconnected everything in the proper order. The problem is that there are quite a few traumatic memories in there, many of which I shudder to think about, that I don't think River's ready to deal with. I couldn't just leave them disconnected without the risk of leaving important memories lost, so I did the next best thing; I hid them. She's likely to still have holes in her memory until her subconscious decides it's ready to fill them, and she may still have a bit of strangeness to her, but I've managed to condense probably ten or more years of therapy into..." She blinked, asking her sister, "How long has it been?"

"Over thirty-six hours," Sora's voice called from behind them, shortly before he strode into the infirmary, gently taking Namine from her sister's arms and giving her a hug. "I was getting worried about you, but Kairi assured me you were doing fine and not to interrupt you." Leaning down slightly to kiss her, and gifting her some of his mana to help overcome her exhaustion, he whispered in her ear, "I'm so proud of you."

Smiling softly at her sister and their shared boyfriend, Kairi remarked, "You can wake her up now Simon."

Nodding Simon silently administered the agents to wake River from her chemically induced sleep. As the drugs began to filter out of her system, her eyes started to flutter open. "River?" he asked tentatively, "How are you feeling?"

"Simon?" Her eyes focusing on him quickly, she sat up, throwing her arms around him and dragging him into a hug. "You came for me." Tears beginning to gather in the corners of her eyes, she whispered brokenly, "I remember everything now. They hurt me. I just wanted to learn, and they hurt me. Tried to make me into a weapon." Smiling brilliantly, she added, "But you came for me. You got me out of there." Tears forgotten, she asked, "So you decoded my messages? The ones I hid in the letters?"

Shrugging sheepishly, Simon replied, "Uh, well, not exactly. I didn't find any specific messages, but I knew you were trying to tell me you were in trouble."

River gave him The Look, equal parts disbelief and disappointment, as she smacked him on the back of the head, before dragging him into another hug, remarking, "It doesn't matter. You saved me, that's what matters. You gave up so much for me. I wish I could give it all back to you."

Pulling back enough to look her in the eyes, Simon replied, "I have my little sister back. That's all that matters."

The somewhat tender moment was irrevocably shattered as Riku arrived, bringing a tray of food for River and Namine, asking, "How is she?" Before any answer could be forthcoming, River, in a feat seeming to defy the laws of physics, managed to extricate herself from her brother's grip, and launch herself at the newly-arrived teen, tackling him to the ground with a flying hug, knocking both the air out of his lungs, and the tray out of his hands; only a quick reaction from Kairi managed to save the latter. Coughing slightly as air returned to his system, he rasped out, "Hi River," before looking up at Namine and added, "Isn't she meant to be fixed?"

"She's as fixed as she's gonna get," Namine replied, as an impish grin came across her face, "Of course, I only fixed her psychotic break, so any prior kookiness will still be there; can't fix what wasn't broken after all."

"She always was a little odd," Simon remarked, subconsciously thinking of the many sharp implements within his reach, and the many, many ways he could use them against Riku if he did anything inappropriate with his little sister.

Turning to glare at her brother, River stated firmly, "Don't play with knives!" Turning back to Riku, she continued, "I like him, he's cute, so I'm calling him." In the stunned silence that followed, she turned to look at the others, still partially sitting on the fallen Riku. "What? I know I'm gifted and intelligent and all that, but I'm seventeen, and he's adorable. I need to stake my claim!" Quirking her head to one side at the thoughts racing through Simon's mind, she amended, "Look Simon, I'm sorry, but would you rather me leave with a handful of doubts about him, or would you rather a very honest, if not very jumbled promise from Riku that he will take care of me and be a proper gentleman?"

Sure enough, the very next words out of Riku's mouth were an intently honest, yet remarkably jumbled and convoluted, promise that he would look after her, and behave himself, with a vague reference to something he called 'Special Hell'. Despite everything that came out of the teen's mouth, however, the most reassuring thing he heard was that they weren't leaving today; after all, he hadn't had a chance to get to know them properly in the handful of days they'd been on the ship so far, and if River thought she was leaving with them, he was going to know everything there was to know about them first.

o-o-o

Sneaking down the halls of the Castle That Never Was, Donald turned to the two following him and stated softly, "Remember, we gotta stay outta sight from the ones in charge. They'll see through these disguises." It hadn't taken much to give them working Heartless disguises, just a simple application of magic and Pete had become a Large Body, Goofy, with his clanking armour, had become a Soldier, and Donald himself had become a Bookmaster.

It had been a brilliant plan. Unfortunately, soon after arriving in the Castle, it became obvious it wasn't going to work entirely as intended; the three of them were the only Emblem Heartless in the whole Castle. The magic would fool the mindless Heartless and Nobodies, but anyone capable of reasoning would soon work out that they were out of place. Thus, they were required to actually, physically hide in the event Xehanort or any of his cronies come along.

They'd lucked out, being in the right place to overhear the meeting between Seymour, the guy who looked like Ventus, the one who looked like Xemnas (if memory served, the King had said his real name was Xehanort), who they assumed was the 'Dark Master' Pete had said Seymour mentioned, as well as some guy in blue armour Seymour had brought in; he was new, apparently.

That Seymour guy had mentioned something about 'attending to the prisoner' after he got the new guy settled in. The trio had headed towards where Pete said they would be keeping any prisoners, but along the way, they'd had to quickly hide from Xehanort and the other guy, who they found out was Vanitas, and were around to see Xurik return; Pete had identified him as Riku's Nobody. When all three had moved on, they'd resumed their journey towards the holding cells.

'Wait a minute,' Donald thought to himself, 'The way that Seymour fella was talking about it, it was like _he_ had the king, personally.' Turning to Pete, he asked, "Where'd that Seymour guy set up shop?"

Scratching his head a moment as he tried to remember, Pete replied slowly, "I fink he took da room dat 'Vexen' had. Down bottom, near da cells."

Nodding in satisfaction that they were still headed in the right direction. They continued in silence for a while, thankful to not encounter any Heartless or Nobodies along the way, not noticing the figure shadowing them. Reaching what Pete had identified as Seymour's lab, the three of them slipped inside, gasping in shock at what they found within.

The room was empty of hostiles. In fact, the only thing in the room besides machinery was the form of King Mickey Mouse, suspended inside some sort of energy field. Dispelling their disguise, lest the king wake up disoriented and attack them on sight, Donald rushed up to free him; which mainly consisted of hitting random buttons and switches until something happened.

As the field powered down, Goofy and Donald hurried over to him, the latter asking, "Are you alright your majesty?" When the king's eyes slid open, the two of them took a few steps back in shock.

His eyes were completely vacant.

Almost as if in a trance, Mickey summoned his Keyblade, taking a lazy swipe at the two of them, which bounced harmlessly off Goofy's shield. The ensorcelled king didn't continue the attack however, as a newly arrived Seymour announced, "Ah, I see you found my new pet. Unfortunately, he's not housebroken yet, so I've been forced to take away his free will, among other things, until he learns his proper place." Casting his eyes to one side, and noticing Pete trying to will himself invisible, he added, "I see you did not take my warning to heart. Pity." With a snap of his fingers, he summoned dozens of Invisible Heartless.

"C'mon Pete, we gotta protect the king!" Goofy exclaimed, hefting his shield, as Donald readied himself to cast his magic from behind him; both members of the Royal Court were preparing themselves for what could very well be a fight to the death.

Pete, however, being the eternal coward that he was, replied, "Frankly, I'd rather RUN!" With that, the fat cat opened a Dark Corridor and raced inside, getting away as fast as his stubby legs could take him, and leaving the other two to their almost certain doom, with no way to leave the Castle.

With an absent wave, Seymour sent roughly a third of the forces he'd summoned after him, remarking casually, "He will get his soon enough. No one can run forever, and the Heartless are tireless." Giving the two of them an appraising look, he added, "As I am feeling generous, I will give you a choice. You may join me, willingly, along with your precious king, or you can stand and die. What do you say?"

Before either of them could give their response, a figure in black and red leapt over the mass of Heartless, unleashing a barrage of shots at them as he passed from the silver, tri-barrel rifle in his hands. Without turning around, he remarked quietly, "Leon sent me to keep an eye on you. I think it's past time we left."

"We're not leavin' without the king!" Donald exclaimed.

Taking his eyes off the enemy for a moment to glare at the duck, his red eyes flashing, Vincent stated, "There's nothing you can do for him now. If you stay, you die, and the best thing you can do for him is to flee, now left's go!" With a heavy sigh, the two nodded, lowering their respective weapons.

One eyebrow raised in question, Seymour asked, "What makes you think I am going to allow you to leave?"

Vincent just smirked. "What makes **you** think you have any say in the matter?" Grabbing the edge of his fluttering cape with the golden gauntlet on his left hand, he threw it around himself, his form disappearing into a mass of animated tattered red cloth, which quickly engulfed Donald and Goofy, likewise disappearing them, before weaving through the air and disappearing into a Dark Corridor as small as an orange.

Nodding thoughtfully, Seymour uttered softly, "Interesting."

"Shall I go after them?" A deep, resounding voice asked from outside the door.

"No, leave them," Seymour answered, already bored with the thought, dismissing both the idea, and the Heartless, with an absent wave. Turning his gaze on Mickey, he continued, "We have more important work to finish."

o-o-o

It had taken the boys less than a day to learn how to summon their Armour and Glider, though they had to be careful doing the latter in the cargo bay, as there wasn't a great deal of room. They had even understood how to open the Lanes Between easily, Riku likening it to opening what he called a Corridor of Darkness. Knowledge given, there had been one task that Shepherd Book had felt he had left to complete before he was satisfied to return to his retirement: testing them for the Mark of Mastery.

He had asked the girls to do their part keeping the rest of the crew busy while he performed the test, in order to keep his secret from them. It had been a simple enough task: Namine kept Kaylee busy, explaining what Gummi pieces did what; Kairi kept Inara occupied, asking her a few tips on travelling without looking well travelled; and River had kept the rest of the crew at bay, explaining to them what she knew of the Blue Sun corporation that had run the Academy, how best to avoid the agents send after her, and what to do should a confrontation be necessary. There had been more than enough time for the two boys to prove themselves worthy of the title of Keyblade Master.

It had actually been the first time he had summoned his Keyblade in over a decade; perhaps even a full score of years. The familiar weight of Frontier Keeper in his hands had been a comfort, especially as he took the time to grieve for his old friend Eraqus, as he performed the test as the two of them had been tested themselves. The two of them had been apprentices together, and even their respective Keyblades bore a similar design, but while Eraqus' had born similarities to an ancient samurai sword, with a stylised 'E' as the teeth, Shepherd Book's own had more resembled a flintlock rifle with an exaggerated bayonet.

Once Sora and Riku had passed, he withdrew then, leaving the new Masters to teach their own apprentices what they, themselves, had just been taught, though he did keep an eye on them; as he was doing right now, leaning against the railing of the top level gangplank, his bible open in one hand before him, but his eyes focused on the floor of the cargo bay below. River and Namine were sparring, under Riku's watch, while Sora gave Kairi lessons on her Black Magic. All five of them wore their newly attained armour, though Riku and Sora had their helmets off.

Each suit of armour was as different as the person who wore them, reflecting their own personal fighting styles, but for all bar River, the only descriptions he could really give of them were their colours. Sora's was a deep, rusty-red base, with golden highlights; best described as 'Sunset'. Riku's was black with deep blue highlights; Shepherd Book thought of that one as 'Midnight'. Kairi's was a deep purple, with highlights of mauve, pink, and in some places red; continuing the theme, that one fitted the image of 'Sunrise'. Lastly, Namine's armour was mostly white, with areas of yellow and blue; this, he felt, personified the image of 'Midday', completing the cycle.

River was, as always, the odd one out. He knew from Simon's storied that she was a graceful dancer, and this was reflected in her armour as, despite looking much like the armour a Valkyrie from the old Norse myths would wear, it featured so many segments it almost looked like she would be more restricted in her motions without it. She seemed something of an amalgam of both young Masters, as her armour was coloured as if someone had taken the colours of Riku's, turned up the contrast, and applied them to her own. Yes, despite her obvious ties to Riku, the Keyblade he had observed River summon bore a more striking resemblance to the Kingdom Key Sora wielded.

At first glance, her Keyblade looked like nothing more than an oversized, ornate bronze skeleton key, with the teeth made up of nothing more than an inch-think rectangle of bronze with a square cut out in the middle, like a block 'C'. It was only upon closer scrutiny that one could notice that the bottom tooth was chipped, and that there were cracks down the shaft, both revealing glowing circuitry beneath the bronze. Circuitry that changed colour, hue, and brightness depending on whether or not she was channelling her mana, and what she was channelling it into.

She called it 'Fractured Time'.

Looking back, Shepherd Book was honestly unsure how he had failed to realise that River was a potential apprentice, considering how much her Keyblade was already a part of her. Nor had he been able to deduce on his own what the oddity was about Sora and his friends that he had felt, until it was shown to him plainly. Had he been so removed from his old life for so long that he had actually _forgotten_ how to sense the ability in others? If so, what other abilities might he similarly have lost?

He pushed those concerns from his mind. Until these off-worlders had arrived, he had been quite content to put that life behind him, and when it came time for them to leave, he felt confident that he could do it again. With a sigh, Shepherd Book returned to his quarters, leaving the youngsters to their training.

o-o-o

The remainder of trip to Sihnon had been fairly calm and uneventful, all things considered, and Shepherd Book watched the proceedings with an air of casual disinterest; not so much because he actually did not care, but more because it would be unseemly for a man in his position to show too much interest. After all, those leaving _Serenity_ were a Companion, four paying strangers, and a formerly mentally damaged teenage girl. That said, he would admit, even if only in his own mind, that he was going to miss River somewhat, quirkiness and all; Inara too, in her own way, though the two would always be somewhat at odds over their chosen ways of life. Still, even he believed is was a sombre occasion.

Days had passed since he had last observed the youngsters training, and he was still no more convinced that he could return to his old life now than he had been then. Mal, he knew for certain, would be riddled with questions and comments about how the thought of other worlds fitted into the words the Shepherd preached, and, if they truly didn't, why he hadn't raised more of a fuss. As much as he sometimes wished he could answer those questions, even were it in his nature to be forthcoming he couldn't. It wouldn't do for them to realise that they were travelling with the man who had designed their World.

It had been a simple concept, really. Mankind always wanted to know what was beyond their own world, so he gave them a way to experience that without looking too far into the stars. He had even designed the government, with a place for law and order in the Core Planets' Alliance, and a place for lawlessness in the Outer Planets. He had honestly believed that the Alliance he designed stood for the good of all people, but he had underestimated man's capacity for evil. Just as well he'd put that business behind him.

Bringing his mind back to the present, he watched as Mal and Inara said their awkward goodbyes. It didn't take any supernatural abilities to sense the chemistry and unresolved tension between them; the whole crew could pick up on it. However, for reasons only they knew (and possibly River) neither one was willing to be the first to expose their hand. An envoy from the Guild Training House had shown up to collect Inara and her belongings, not long after they had landed on the bluff nearby, overlooking the lush forestlands below, but she waited a moment longer, as hers was not the only farewell this day.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Namine were all standing off to one side, much like the Guild envoy, waiting patiently as River made her own round of goodbye's to the people she was leaving behind. The girls looked a bit misty-eyed at the scene, watching as Kaylee hugged River fiercely, but the boys looked mostly unaffected; being Keyblade Masters in their own rights, Shepherd Book mused that they must be used to befriending new people and then leaving them behind.

Carefully extricating herself from the older girl's grasp, River turned towards her brother, having, like Inara before her, saved the most important person in her life for last. As Simon gave her a hug of his own, Shepherd Book was close enough to overhear him saying, "I don't want you to go. I only just got my little sister back."

"You have to let me go," River replied, "It's not safe for me here, less so now that I can wield the Keyblade."

Her words reminded him of his own problem. He realised, looking deep into his own heart, that it wasn't Mal's queries and opinions that were of greatest concern to him. His biggest problem was that ever since he had fallen in with the crew of _Serenity_, he had moved away from the path of a Shepherd, and, with these travellers bringing back thought-lost memories of his time as a Keyblade Master, travelling between worlds, he realised he was still living that life now; all that had changed was the scenery and the enemies. Perhaps it would soon be time that he, too, leave _Serenity_, and return to his flock.

He was brought back to the present again when he overheard the tail end of her farewell. "You took care of me Simon, like a bird with a broken wing. But I'm all better now, and it's time for this bird to stretch her wings and fly. You need to let me go. When the time is right, I'll fly back." Smiling softly, despite the tears running down her face, River added, "You gave up so much for me, everything you had, and everything you could have had. When I get back, I expect to see you've taken steps towards finding your own happiness." Withdrawing from Simon's embrace, she turned towards Kaylee and stated, "I trust you'll help him with that."

Kaylee nodded, silent tears on her own face as she grabbed Simon's arm before the man could protest, replying, "I'll take care of him."

Moving to rejoin her new companions, there was one final round of goodbyes before, with near perfect synchronicity, the five of them summoned their Keyblade Armour. Then, with little fanfare, the two young Masters summoned their Gliders.

When he had first witnessed the two Gliders, Shepherd Book had honestly been surprised by how similar they were. Riku's Glider, formed from his Way to the Dawn, featured a triangular body, the front coming to almost a blade-like point that could be used to attack if needed, decaled like the demon wing shaft, and at the 'shoulder' of the wind, there was a sidecar formed from the angel wing teeth. The Glider was designed to be ridden much like a motorbike, and featured space for a passenger; as Riku had explained, when envisioning his Glider, he ensured there would be room for River, though he could retract the sidecar if not needed. He also said that his inspiration came from something he called the 'Nobody Sidecar Glider'; Sora seemed to know what that was, even if the Shepherd himself didn't.

Sora's Glider was somewhat unique, in that it had two different forms. The first, constructed from the Kingdom Key, featured a streamlined grey body that, while also similar to a motorbike, required the rider to be a lot closer to laying down than Riku's had. The teeth had formed the forward ram prow, and the guard had changed into something of a rear drum wheel, with the handle through it sideways as a footrest. Sora claimed it was designed after something he called a 'Light Cycle'.

The second form, using two Kingdom Keys - or more correctly, the X-Blade - was based on that form, changed it from a simple bike into more of a jet. The design of the Glider looked as though Sora had swung open the crossed Keyblades, using their join as a pivot. The front half was now the same tarnished gold as the X-Blade's tip, the prow now like a sword point, while pearlescent green wings now came out from just under the rider's feet, the grey 'shafts' extending from the drum wheel. The handles, about mid-way along the wings, formed a pair of passenger cars for Kairi and Namine, both of which could be enclosed to protect those inside, looking almost like missile pods. The main body of both forms could likewise be enclosed, which made this form look more like the Alliance fighter jets than anything else.

The five of them climbed aboard, though River, he noticed, opted to throw her luggage into the sidecar of Riku's Glider before climbing on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist; despite the helmets they both wore, when Riku looked back at her, Shepherd Book knew River was giving him a look that dared him to challenge her. With a shrug from Riku, the two craft lifted off into the sky, a portal to the Lanes Between opening up before them before they could reach the atmosphere.

Casting his eyes over to the Guild envoy, and taking in the shocked looks on their faces, Shepherd Book took heart in the fact that the Guild was renown for their discretion, and began to revisit the idea of settling down away from this crew.

* * *

Author's Notes

As I mentioned in the previous chapter, this chapter, and part 1, were originally a single chapter, until I realised it had gone on way too long, and decided to break it into two. Of course, this required adding a few bits here and there, but... I'm happier with the end result than I was before the reworking.

This chapter marks the last in the world of _Firefly_, for now at least. I may revisit it later on, but then, I may not. Sora and his friends have already managed to throw the mother of all monkey wrenches into the works.


	5. Dead Man's Chest

**"Douse the lamps."**

As the crew hurried off to follow his orders, Captain Jack Sparrow raised his telescope to his eye, the moon and stars above providing more than enough light for him to watch Master Turner rowing towards the derelict ship. It was a shame really; young Will was a bit too naive, and much too trusting, but he would've made a bloody good pirate if he didn't have so many hang-ups about it. Still, that naivete might just save him where he was going.

Jack flinched slightly when the _Flying Dutchman_ erupted out of the water, but otherwise made no movement; the same could not be said for his crew, especially Master Gibbs, who immediately began making warding gestures. Watching through the telescope, Jack saw Will fighting against the horde of fishmen that swarmed the derelict. A brave and foolish action, so in line with young Will's personality. The crew of the Dutchman could not be killed, or if they could, it wasn't permanent. That was the deal: one hundred years of immortality for those who crewed the Flying Dutchman, and all it cost you was your soul and your humanity; many who would've otherwise died at sea deemed that a fair price.

Of course, Davy Jones took steps to ensure that there would always be a supply of potential crew members.

The Dutchman's captain strode down the line of surviving crew, and it wasn't long before one of them had his throat slit before being tossed overboard; one crewmember, at least, did _not_ wish to take Jones' deal. As he came to Will, however, Davy Jones seemed visibly surprised, especially when Will spoke to him; Jack could only assume that Will had told him what he had been instructed to say. With a start, Jack realised that Davy Jones was looking right at him, and, as he lowered his telescope, he was horrified to realised that _Jones was right in front of him!_

As fishmen began to swarm the _Black Pearl_, Jack opened his mouth to say something, but with his brain still in shock, all that came out was a simple, "Oh."

"You have a debt to pay," Davy Jones drawled, his crab leg resounding harshly against the deck as he strode towards Jack, while Jack in turn backed away from him. "You've been captain of the _Black Pearl_ for thirteen years. **THAT** was our agreement."

Smiling weakly, Jack replied, "Technically, I was only captain for two years, then I was viciously mutinied upon." He didn't think it would work, but he had to try, at least until he could use something better.

"Then you were a poor captain but a captain nonetheless," Jones sneered, turning to his own crew as he added mockingly, "Have you not introduced yourself, all these years, as _Captain Jack Sparrow_?"

His brain now adequately rebooted, Jack stated, "You have my payment: one soul to serve on your ship. He's already over there."

In a patronising tone, Davy Jones replied, "One soul is not equal to another."

'Bingo!' Jack cheered inwardly that Jones had taken the bait, before piping up, "Aha! We've established my proposal is sound in principle, now we're just haggling over price."

"Price?" Jack took a measure of glee in the surprise on Davy Jones' squid-face.

Sliding in closer to him, Jack asked in a conspiratory tone, "Just how many souls do you think my soul is worth?"

After a few moments of consideration, the answer was given, loud enough for all on deck to hear. "One hundred souls. Three days."

"You're a diamond mate," Jack commented, starting to walk off. "Just send me back the boy. I'll get started right off."

He was intercepted by one of Jones' crew, as the eldritch creature himself remarked, "I keep the boy; a good faith payment. That leaves you only ninety-nine more to go!" At that, Jones joined his crew in laughter.

Turning back to the fish captain, Jack continued his wheeling and dealing. "Have you not met Will Turner? He's noble, heroic, a terrific soprano. Worth at least four... Maybe three and a half?" Seeing Jones' disinterest, he added, "And did I happen to mention... he's in love? With a girl. Due to be married. Betrothed." This seemed to strike a chord in Davy Jones' features, as he expected it would, so he finished, "Dividing him from her and her from him would only be half as cruel as actually allowing them to be joined in holy matrimony, eh?"

This proved to be one of the many times Jack should have shut his mouth while he was ahead, as Davy Jones quickly regained his composure and stated resolutely, "I keep the boy. Ninety-nine souls." His crew started snickering again. In a tone of mocking sincerity, Jones asked, "But I wonder, Sparrow, can you live with this? Can you condemn an innocent man, a friend, to a lifetime of servitude in your name while you roam free?"

Jack pretended to think about it for a second, but he already knew his answer. "Yep, I'm good with it. Shall we seal it in blood? I mean... ink?" One thing Jack knew, which Davy Jones neigh opted to tell anyone, is that you could not really be 'shanghaied' into service on the Dutchman; you were either bound by an oath from your own mouth, or you were free to leave the ship at your own whims.

Davy Jones grabbed Jack's hand, the same hand the Black Spot had formed on, the tentacle growing off his wrist wrapping around Jack's arm as Jones glared at him, stating firmly, "Three days." This statement was echoed mockingly by his crew as Jones pulled his hand free, the Black Spot fading, before Jones and his crew returned to their ship.

When Gibbs walked up to him, the _Flying Dutchman_ already leaving, Jack remarked, "I feel sullied and unusual."

"And how do you intend to harvest these ninety-nine souls in three days?" Gibbs asked, concerned for his friend and captain's safety.

"Fortunately, he was mum as to the condition in which these souls need be," Jack replied.

Gibbs' eyes lit up in understanding. "Ah. Tortuga."

Wiping his hand against Gibbs' shirt, he nodded. "Tortuga." With Will on the case, Jack was sure he would soon have the key in hand. Now, all that remained was to find the chest.

* * *

- Shades of Grey -

- Dance of Light and Shadow -

Chapter 05 - Dead Man's Chest

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

* * *

"Sora, where the hell are we?"

"Tortuga," the younger Keyblade Master replied automatically, instinctively keeping an eye out for trouble while he made an effort to keep Kairi and Namine behind him. The journey through the Lanes Between had been exactly how Sora liked it: quick and uneventful. By his estimate, Sora figured that travel through the ways took maybe a tenth of the time it would have taken by Gummi ship; well, truthfully, it had been _Tron_ that did the estimations, the connection via his wrist computer having been re-established as soon as they entered the Lanes. The down side though was that they would be required to make more stops on longer journeys, as unlike Gummi ship, Keyblade Gliders had neither bed, nor galley.

"I thought we were headed for Port Royal to find Jack," Riku continued, River keeping pace with him.

"If you mean Port Royal the world, then this _is_ it." Sora shrugged, "If you meant Port Royal the town _within_ that world, then no." Turning back to Riku, he explained, "We called this world Port Royal because it seemed like the main hub of activity. Plus it was our primary landing point." Turning back to the town, he added, "If we've landed here, it means this is where we'll find him."

"How do you know that?" River asked, trying to hide her disgust at what some of the town's inhabitants were doing.

"Experience," Sora shrugged again, "I've been doing this long enough to know that, invariably, wherever we land is where we're meant to be."

"So hope, prayer, and blind luck then?"

Sora smiled sheepishly at the new girl, admitting, "Yeah, kinda."

"So what's the plan then?" Kairi asked, the first she'd spoken since they left the Lanes Between.

"Kairi, you and Namine are with me," Sora stated, "Jack's been known to frequent the same handful of bars, so we'll scope them out, see if we can find him. Riku, you and River go down to the docks, see if you can try to spot the Pearl. And whatever you do, stay together, and keep your eyes peeled. Most everyone in this town's a pirate, so don't trust anyone more than you have to."

"How are we meant to know which ship the Pearl is?" Riku asked, "In case you've forgotten, you're the only one who's been here before."

"It shouldn't be too hard to find." Already starting to walk off with his two girls, Sora called back, "It's the only ship sailing these waters with black sails."

o-o-o

Standing before the massive stone dais, Vanitas bowed respectfully, stating to the figure seated atop the throne, "Master, the Unversed have reported in." Straightening, and waiting for the man to signal him to continue, he did so. "The X-Blade Wielder and his friends have resurfaced. They entered the Lanes Between near where they disappeared, donned in armour and riding a pair of Keyblade Gliders. The Unversed followed their journey, until both Gliders exited at Port Royal."

Steepling his fingers before his face, Xehanort mused aloud, "So, they encountered a retired Master in that hidden world. Interesting."

"Should I have the Unversed continue the search for the entrance?"

Xehanort shook his head. "No. If a Keyblade Master has indeed remained alive all this time, hidden in there, it is because there _is_ no way in. The Heartless saw to it that all Masters that could be found, were."

"Sire?" Vanitas questioned, a confused look on his face, "If there is no entrance, how did they manage to enter in the first place?"

With a disinterested shrug, Xehanort replied, "I believe it's likely the X-Blade opened a path for them." Stepping out of his throne and towards one of the windows overlooking the Dark City, he continued, "Keyblades may not be truly sentient, but there is a sort of latent subconsciousness that enables them to influence events according the will of the heart from which they're formed."

"And as the heart the X-Blade is formed from is the heart of all worlds, it's will, and influence, are all-encompassing, I see Master," Vanitas concluded, "That is why you seek the X-Blade as well, instead of focusing on the Seven Hearts of Light alone."

"Precisely," Xehanort replied, striding back to his seat. "While I could attain Kingdom Hearts and achieve my goals through the Princesses alone, true control over everything requires the X-Blade as well, and I will settle for nothing less than complete control. Should that prove unattainable, however, I will have to settle for having no rivals for my rule. It is convenient, then, that one of the Princesses is with the current wielder of X-Blade."

"How are we to acquire them Master?" Vanitas asked, adding, "Together they are too strong, and the Unversed tell me that there is now a fifth person travelling with them, that she was with them when they entered the Lanes."

"It is of no importance." Sitting back down in his chair, Xehanort steepled his fingers, remarking, "It matters not how many allies they acquire. You are correct, together they are too strong. Thus, the key to defeating them is to divide them." Waving his apprentice away absently, he concluded, "Go now, take the Unversed to Port Royal and disrupt their operations there. And take Xurik and his Nobodies with you; there's a local superpower there that he may have better luck negotiating terms with than you."

Bowing once more, Vanitas stated formally, "By your leave then Master," before turning and striding out. Inside, he still wondered how this new player would influence the game.

After all, he hadn't informed his master that this fifth person was also a Keyblade Wielder.

o-o-o

The sign hanging above the door was so riddled with bullet holes that the name was almost completely blown off, but the picture was still mostly there, and if memory served, it named this particular establishment the 'Faithful Bride'. Sora remembered Jack bringing Gibbs here the last time he'd been to Tortuga, to discuss their venture, and to assemble a crew, back when Jack had the commandeered _Interceptor_. It seemed as good a place as any to start, so after turning to make sure the girls were following, and glaring at every pirate who so much as looked in their direction, he lead the way inside.

Luck seemed once more to favour him as, after a few moments looking around, he spotted the familiar face of Master Gibbs, Jack's first mate, looking like he was hiring new crew members. Lounging not far behind him was the captain himself, compass in one hand, and the stem of a bottle, almost certainly containing rum in the other. Signalling the girls to keep up, he strode across the tavern, a broad grin on his face as he called out, "Captain Jack Sparrow, just the man I was looking for. You keeping out of trouble?"

He stifled a grin as he saw Jack almost overbalance, the pirate showing he wasn't as drunk as Sora would've thought as he quickly regained his balance, snapping his compass shut as he looked up towards the new voice, questioning, "Zola?" Jumping to his feet, he paused a moment, before asking, "You're not here about those Organizers again are you?"

Rolling his eyes, he replied, "My name is _Sora_, it's not that hard. And no, I took care of the Organization coming on a year ago."

"Come to join me crew again then?" Jack asked, continuing on, "Good timing lad, I'm needin' a new crew, and we're lookin' to be settin' sail again early morning. Just make your mark."

"What happened to the old crew?" Sora couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.

Jack shrugged slightly. "A series of unforeseeable incidents surrounding the Pelegostos. Won't be happening again."

"All the same, I don't think so Jack," Sora grinned, "I'm not putting my name on anything. Just because we departed friends last time doesn't mean I suddenly started trusting you."

"Likely a wise choice; I AM a pirate," Jack grinned back. "So, why have you come then?"

"I'll keep it short," Sora explained, "I'm looking for someone I barely remember, who's trapped in a world I've only been to once, and I've no idea where to start looking. I need to borrow your compass."

Jack instinctively held his compass closer to his chest, before his face took on a strange mix of curious and thoughtful. "You still have that lovely blade?"

Summoning the Kingdom Key, Sora stated amusedly, "You want the Keyblade for the compass?"

"I'll not be falling for that one again mate," Jack replied with a shake of his head, his braids flying everywhere. "I don't imagine I'm any more like to hold that blade than I was before. No, what I offer to you is a trade, one service for another. I will loan you the use of my compass, if you will loan me the use of that. Am I right in guessing that it doesn't look like a key by coincidence, and that it can, in fact, open locks?"

Dismissing the weapon with a half shrug, Sora answered, "Well, I've not yet encountered a lock it can't open, but that's not to say I won't."

"Good enough," Jack stated firmly, lowering his voice as he continued, "I seek a chest. I've sent young Master Turner to look for the key, but he's yet to return, and it's like this chest's owner managed to shanghai him into service. Now, if I could get access to the contents of the chest, I could barter for Will's freedom, but, should I find the chest without the key..."

Blinking slowly, Sora commented, "Let's see if I understand what you're saying. If I open the lock on a chest which you don't yet have, you will lend me the compass?"

"Yeah, that's about it," Jack replied, holding out his hand. "Do we have an accord?"

Sora grasped the pirate's hand in his own, with a simple nod of his head. Stepping back, he started to turn away, calling back, "I'll assemble my team and be on the docks in two hours."

"Your team wouldn't happen to contain those two young lasses behind you would it?" Jack asked, adding, "It _is_ frightful bad luck to have a woman aboard." The captain's tone indicated he didn't really believe in that superstition, but Sora knew Gibbs would pitch a fit.

"Maybe so Jack, but a man makes his own luck," Sora replied, his eyes darkening slightly before he finished, "And, if they don't come, I don't come, and you need what I offer as much as I need your end of the bargain. Maybe more if I read you right." His piece said, Sora gathered the girls and strode off, paying little mind to the bedraggled form in the tattered blue-and-yellow coat staggering up to Gibbs' table. They had to find Riku and River.

o-o-o

"So, back to being a tool then is it?"

"Shut up!" Xurik hissed.

"You were actually free for a time, but you just went crawling back to a new master the first chance you got."

"I said shut up!"

"But then, I shouldn't be surprised." Xurik could see the form in the mirror shrug before continuing, "After all, _Riku_ did the same thi-"

"Shut the hell up!" Xurik roared, summoning and hurling Way to the Dusk in a single motion, as he turned to find... nothing behind him. Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he turned back to the mirror, seeing only himself reflected. Taking a few calming deep breaths, Xurik continued to examine himself in the mirror; he hadn't slept all that well since his loss on Destiny Islands, and his return to the Castle had only worsened the situation. 'For a being without a heart,' Xurik mused to himself, 'I seem to have a lot of uncontrollable anger. But then, I remember the same from before I lost my heart...'

Moving away from the mirror, Xurik strode towards the open window, leaning against the sill as he gazed at the eerie pink glow of the soon-to-be-restored Kingdom Hearts gateway. Sighing, he allowed the thought to continue to its obvious conclusion, the same conclusion he always reached. 'That's my main problem though isn't it? No matter what I do, I'm stuck exactly the same as was when I became a Nobody.'

"It doesn't have to be that way. You define yourself based on what you were before. Let go of the past, and define your own destiny."

Riku scowled instinctively at the voice. It had been badgering him for a while now, but it was only upon his return to the Castle, his encounter with 'Vanitas' specifically, that it had acquired a face: Roxas's face. Appropriate that it would hound him about the same Zen crap the actual Roxas had before his disappearance. While the voice never left him, though, he could only ever see the face in a mirror, or other reflective surface.

Shaking his head slightly as he turned to face the voice, Xurik mused aloud, "Are you the real Roxas, or just a figment of my subconscious mind?"

"Why ask me? It's your mind." Roxas replied. "Besides, there's no answer to that question. If I'm just a figment, I'll tell you whatever your subconscious wants to hear. If I'm not, well, as a Nobody was I ever truly 'real' to begin with?"

Xurik rolled his eyes as he returned his gaze to the pink moon, he muttered beneath his breath, "Just as annoying as the real Roxas..."

"The way I see things Number Fifteen, you have three choices," Roxas continued, as though he'd never been interrupted, "First, you can stay as you are now, trapped in Limbo, trading hands until none left have a use for you. Second, you can cast away the memories weighing you down, and shape your own fate, beholden to no one. Or third, if you are so certain that you are the 'true' Riku, what he should have been, you can return to him, and reclaim your heart; either you will be proven correct, and be more powerful than you are now, or you will cease to exist. Either way, your current problems will no longer trouble you."

He was right. Of course, that didn't make things any easier for Xurik. Continuing as he was just wasn't acceptable, but neither was returning to Riku, regardless of whether he would be the one remaining after their union or not. That left him only discarding his past and redefining himself, a task that no member of Organization XIII had ever accomplished. Roxas himself may have been the only one to ever succeed, simply because he _had_ no past to discard. "I wish I could..."

"Who are you talking to?"

Xurik's head snapped around at the new voice, sounding so much like the one that hounded him, only darker, with an overlay of Sora's voice. "What do you want 'Vanitas'?"

"Got a mission." Vanitas replied simply, the closed helmet covering his face adding another layer of echo to his tone. "Sora and the others have resurfaced. We're to stop whatever they're trying to achieve."

Rolling his shoulders, Xurik nodded, striding away from the window without a second thought; self-reflection could wait. As such, he never saw the visage of Roxas, from the mirror, glaring at Vanitas.

o-o-o

"Do we trust him?"

"I don't particularly trust anyone on this world," Sora replied, as he and Riku worked to ready the sails, "They _are_ pirates."

Glancing over at the girls working nearby, Riku remarked softly, "I assume that rule about staying in a group still applies until we leave this world then..." Turning back to Sora, he asked, "Can we even be sure he'll hold up his end of this deal of yours?"

"Don't worry about that, he will," Sora stated without a hint of doubt in his voice. "He may not be completely trustworthy, but he is honourable in his own way; once he gives his word, he does keep it, which is why he doesn't give it very often." Shaking his head, he continued, "No, I'm not worried about whether Jack will really give us his compass once I open that chest he's after."

"It's who the chest actually belongs to?" Riku surmised.

"Exactly." Glancing over at the girls himself, both to check on them and to see if they were out of earshot, Sora added, "Jack's scared. Whoever this chest belongs to is likely very powerful. We're almost definitely going to have to defend ourselves at some point, but I'd rather Jack not know we all have Keyblades just yet. So far as he and his crew knows, there's only one, mine, and he covets it fiercely already."

Riku raised an eyebrow in query. "How are we supposed to defend ourselves without using our Keyblades?"

"You could always take the opportunity to learn proper magic," Sora grinned. "Plus, I've already talked to Kairi and Namine about combining their skills to create some kind of glamour to make their Keyblades look like regular sword. Well, regular in the sense that your Soul Eater was regular compared to Way to the Dawn. Failing that, there's plenty of actual swords on this ship. And it might not be a bad idea for us all to carry one for appearances if nothing else."

Sora paused, expecting some retort from Riku, but when he was met by only silence, he glanced over at Riku, before tracing where the older teen was looking; not surprisingly, his eyes were locked on River. "You're worried about her aren't you?" Sora asked softly.

The stammered denial Sora expected never came, as Riku replied, "She's my responsibility. I mean, without me, she never would've been dragged into this mess. She's not ready for a world as dangerous as this one's shaping up to be."

"She might surprise you," Sora remarked, gathering his thoughts before adding, "Look, if things start going as bad as I fear they might, and you believe she'll be in real danger, just take her and get out of here." He met Riku's shocked look stoically. "I mean it. I can handle anything this world throws at me, and Kairi and Namine are getting stronger every day; even now, they should be able to take care of themselves so long as they stay together. But you're right, River hasn't got the experience she needs yet. So if worse comes to worse, get her to safety. We'll find you when it's safe."

Before Riku could comment further, a female voice called out from behind them, "Sora, is that really you?"

"Elizabeth Swann," Sora called back, turning to face the newcomer with a big grin on his face, "Fancy meeting you here. You decide to turn pirate after all?"

"Hardly," Elizabeth replied, "I just need Jack's help to rescue Will." Sora and Riku shared a look, neither feeling like mentioning that it was likely Jack that got Will in need of rescuing in the first place. Unabated, she continued, "So are Donald and Goofy still with you?"

Suppressing a wince, Sora remarked, "No, they went home when we resolved the last lot of problems about six months back. I do, however, have other friends with me, most of 'em from back home. I'll introduce you." Calling the girls over, it didn't take long to introduce the four new travellers to Elizabeth, and the six of them were swapping stories within minutes. As they began winding down, Sora commented, "I've got to ask, or it'll bug me forever: why do you have Jack's compass?"

"This?" Elizabeth replied, holding up the compass in question, "Apparently the only way to save Will is to get this chest, and Jack needs me to find it. Why?"

"Because Jack needs Sora to _open_ that chest," Namine shrugged, "And use of that compass is our reward. We need it to find someone who was lost to Darkness over a decade ago."

Folding his arms, Riku prompted, "Did Jack actually tell you what was **inside** this chest he's after?"

Elizabeth simply rolled her eyes. "He gave me some story about how it contains the heart of Davy Jones."

Sora couldn't fight back the wince this time, nor the hiss that escaped his teeth; he was not alone in his recoiling, joined by the other three Destiny Islanders. 'Davy Jones', he mused to himself, 'We're going up against the Devil of the Seas himself.' A morbidly amusing thought occurred to him: 'At least I wasn't worried for nothing.'

o-o-o

Leaning his back against the door, Will allowed himself a moment to let out a relieved sigh. So far, the plan was holding up. He had managed to successfully sneak into Davy Jones' room, steal the key, and exit again without waking the Captain up, and his father should, this minute, be lowering the longboat for him to make his escape. All he needed now was for his luck to hold out until he could put some distance between himself and this ship.

Fate, it seemed, had other plans in store, as, with his back still against the wooden door, Will could hear the sound of swirling air coming from the room behind him, before a male teenage voice asked, "Are you Captain Davy Jones?"

There was the sound of mashed organ keys as Davy Jones was rudely awoken, his voice barking out moments later, "Who the devil are _you_ boy? Why are you here? How did you manage to sneak aboard my ship?"

"Apologies for waking you Captain," the voice replied, "I would have waited until morning, but I thought you would want to hear the news I bring as soon as possible. My name is Xurik, and as to how I came here... I am like you, Captain. A being with no heart."

Still obviously irate at being woken, Davy Jones continued, "So what is this news of such importance then?"

"I believe you're familiar with a man named Jack Sparrow?" The boy going by the name 'Xurik' didn't wait for an answer. "He departed Tortuga earlier this evening, heading in search of something else I believe you're familiar with. The Dead Man's Chest."

Will didn't wait to hear any more. The Captain was awake, would soon find out the key was missing, and would easily be able to work out where said key was. Rushing over to where his father Bootstrap had just finished lowering the longboat into the water, he grabbed a nearby sword and cut the boat loose.

"What are you doing?" Bootstrap cried out in shock, watching the boat begin to drift away before turning to his estranged son, "You need to get off this ship."

"There's not much time to explain," Will replied hurriedly, "Someone got into the cabin somehow after I left and woke Jones up. He told him that Jack's after the chest."

"So why did you cut the boat loose?" Bootstrap asked, "If Jones catches you with that key, being sent to the Locker will be the least of your concerns."

"Which is why the longboat is useless to me," Will stated. "I'll never get far enough away in time. Besides, I don't need to any more. Jones will take me right to the chest when he heads there to stop Jack. I just need to hide long enough to get there."

Thinking quickly, Bootstrap remarked, "Climb down into the bow of the ship. I'll distract them until you can settle in."

"They'll know you helped me." Will couldn't keep the worried tone out of his voice.

Shrugging, Bootstrap laughed mirthlessly, adding dryly, "What more can they do to me?"

Will had no answer to that, but he wasn't about to waste his father's sacrifice, rushing over to the front of the ship and clambering down into the patchwork of timbers. He just hoped he could remain hidden until they reached Jack.

o-o-o

Davy Jones scowled to himself as he crew (sans Bootstrap Bill, now taking up space in the brig) scurried around the deck, making sail as fast as possible in the current conditions. Sparrow's search for the chest wasn't of any great concern to him; after all, men had searched for the Dead Man's Chest ever since he had first buried the thing, and although Jones knew that, of all of them, Jack was the most likely to find the chest, it would still do him no good without the key. 'The key that wretched boy stole!' Jones fumed to himself, his human hand clenching the cloth Turner had shown off earlier with a drawing of his key on it.

He wished he had the time to search the area thoroughly, as no matter how fast he rowed, nor which direction, Turner would not have been able to evade the Dutchman for long in a longboat, but if that boy Xurik was correct, than time was already scarce. He was, after all, one of the few beings still alive that were old enough to remember the Keyblade, before all memory of it was sealed away. Xurik himself had shown that he personally had a Keyblade, so it was not unreasonable to believe this 'Sora' Sparrow travelled with had another.

Turning back to Xurik, the boy standing patiently nearby, Jones asked, "Why did you come to me with this information? I don't believe for a minute that it was just for my benefit."

"Of course not," Xurik replied with an absent shrug, "My Master wishes to see Sora fail in his endeavours, and the best way to do that was to enlist your aid. I will lend you the aid of myself, my ally, and my soldiers, if you will lend me yours. All I ask for in exchange is the hearts of Sora and his companion Kairi. The rest are yours to do with as you wish."

"Where are these 'soldiers' of yours?" Jones sneered.

Xurik snapped his fingers, and a trio of Dusks appeared on deck in a swirl of displaced air. "They wait in the place between places until I need them, and can be deployed anywhere. If you will inform me of the destination, I will ensure that Sora and his Keyblade never reach the chest."

Before Jones could respond, the helmsman came up, asking, "Sir, do we have a heading?"

Davy Jones answered both queries at once, replying, "Chart a course to Isla Cruces. And get me these first or there'll be the devil to pay!"

* * *

Author's Notes

Good Lord this chapter took forever to get out, and not because it was particularly hard to write. I had the majority of it finished probably close to a month ago when life proceeded to kick me in an unpleasant spot and take up all of my attention. Then, even when I did manage to get it finished, whenever I remembered I still needed to post this, something came up that stole focus until I'd long since forgotten again. That'll learn me for saying it wouldn't take me long to have the next chapter ready...

In other news, as should be obvious I'm taking a couple of liberties with this world, treating Sora's past experience here more like the events of the actual movie, and less like the extremely abridged version from Kingdom Hearts 2. This was mainly done for simplicity's sake, so that Sora would know more people than just Jack, Will, Elizabeth, and Barbossa without having to be introduced to them.


	6. Isla Cruces

**"Guard the boat. Mind the tide. Don't touch my dirt."**

Sora spared one last look for Pintel and Ragetti, not entirely trusting them despite Jack supposedly being their captain now, before following after the man, keeping pace with Elizabeth and, of all people, the former Commodore Norrington. As much as he might have wished otherwise, Kairi and Namine matched his pace on the opposite side to Elizabeth; he'd asked them earlier to remain on the ship, as he had a bad feeling this wasn't going to be a simple mission, but they insisted, saying they 'Didn't trust him to control himself (and his darkness) without them.'

Well, they were probably right, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have preferred them to be safe elsewhere.

The voyage aboard the _Black Pearl_ had been blessedly short, it being the afternoon of the day after they left Tortuga. Sora was especially glad for the short trip, as he very much did not appreciate the looks many of the crew was sending towards Kairi and Namine, though none of them had tried anything. Well, not with his girls at least; he had seen a crew member limping, so maybe he'd said something to River that she didn't appreciate.

Amidst all the work that needed to be done to keep a ship sailing, he'd even managed to find time to give the others a lesson in magic. Like most things he'd seen that girl do, River picked up on things quickly; but then, Simon had described her as a prodigy. Sora could tell that even Kairi, despite being something of a spellcasting prodigy in her own right, was a bit jealous of how fast River advanced. Conversely, Riku was having great trouble grasping white magic, though he had learnt many new destructive ways to apply his own brand of black magic. Namine, however, was doing a lot better now, both in her ability to cast magic, and in handling her emotions. He'd noticed she'd been getting better, but whether it was because of the battle in the Keyblade Graveyard, or their time aboard the _Serenity_, he honestly couldn't say.

Truth be told, it was probably some combination of both.

The trip across the island was quiet, too quiet in some ways, leaving Sora on edge; there was no sound bar the waves crashing on the beach, and their footsteps in the sand, not even a single seagull or other wild bird. Before long, Elizabeth moved to the front with Jack, to properly direct them, and rather than leading them through the forest, she opted to skirt around the island along the beach, though it would be a longer path. Once the longboat was long past the horizon, Sora's worried proved to be quite well founded, as a mass of enemies warped in all around them. What truly concerned Sora though wasn't that they'd been attacked, as he'd been expecting that for some time; it was that the creatures attacking them were neither Heartless, nor Nobody.

There were dozens of them, possible over a hundred, in many different shapes: Huge gorillas, with green-and-gold bracers (Wild Bruiser); Totem poles, with blue, red, and yellow segments (Triple Wrecker); Blue and black figured carrying golden spiked shields (Buckle Bruiser); Flying giant hourglasses (Chrono Twister); and many, many creatures that resembled Shadows and NeoShadows, only blue in colour instead of black (Flood and Scrapper). Sora recognized these monsters, the names coming into his mind as easily as his own, though he personally had never seen them. "Unversed..." The word slipped from his lips; Vanitas' creations.

Shaking himself from his shocked stupor, Sora shouted, "Jack, Elizabeth, get to that chest! These things are likely after me, not you. Kairi, Namine, cut 'em a path out of here." Grinning slightly, he added, "I'd ask you to go with them, but I know you'll ignore me, so instead, come back safe."

Nodding, his two girls summoned their weapons, glamoured to look like fancy swords instead of Keyblades, before Namine began carving through the weaker ones, with Kairi using her magic to keep the bigger ones at bay.

Taking a deep breath, Sora Drove into the Prime Form he had discovered fighting Hades, Oblivion and Creation hovering near his shoulders, while he summoned the X-Blade to his hand. "You know what this is, don't you?" He remarked mostly to himself, the Unversed turning towards him, sensing the power of the key in his hand. "This is what you're after." The Unversed seemed to agree, shuffling towards him even as Kairi and Namine continued to slice their way through, the others in tow. Charging into the mass of enemies, weapons flashing, he shouted, "You want it? Come and get it!"

'Now then,' the thought ran idly through his head, 'Let's see if these things are as tough as I remember.'

* * *

- Shades of Grey -

- Dance of Light and Shadow -

Chapter 06 - Isla Cruces

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

* * *

'Why are these things never easy?' The question filtered through Jack's consciousness, as the captain swung his shovel towards the sandy ground below. The day had been going so well, up until those creatures attacked. True enough, it seemed they weren't interested in Jack himself, given the way they broke off pursuit to go after Zola. However, as the two girls shirked their escort duty to make sure the boy was alright, Jack quickly realised that it was too much of a coincidence for them to be attacked here, and if those creatures knew to look here for Zola and his friends, then it was quite likely that Jones knew he'd find Jack here.

Which lead to his current situation, having to help dig up the chest. Lizzie had found where it was buried easy enough, but normally Jack just would've left Norrington to dig it up; it's why he brought the man after all. But, given the fact they were on a big of a deadline, which was coming up fast, the captain'd had to degrade himself by grabbing the second shovel and actually using it. Of course, it wasn't until he felt the thump of the shovel hitting something wooden that the next problem occurred to him: with Zola occupied, he was now sans one key.

Hauling the chest out of the ground with Norrington's help, Jack was initially dismayed at how... normal, the chest looked, adorned with a simple padlock; clearly, not the Deadman's Chest. Still, his compass had never been wrong before, so, hefting his shovel, he snapped open the old lock, worn down to little more than a formality by years buried in the sand, confident that what he sought would be inside.

And if not, hey, free treasure.

Lifting the lid of the decades-old (if not centuries-old) chest, Jack peered in to find it filled almost to overflowing with paper; old letters, if he was to hazard a guess. Digging under those, though, was something infinitely more promising: a smaller, much more ornate, worked in bronze if he were to guess, with a complex lock, shaped something like a heart; or was it a crab? Leaning closer, unknowingly mirrored by Lizzie and Norrington, Jack held his ear near the chest, and he had to fight to keep a broad grin off his face when he heard the heartbeat within. Now all he had to do was get it open!

A shocked look on her face, Lizzie remarked, "It's real..."

Slightly more disbelieving, but no less shocked, Norrington turned to him and stated what had to be a rhetorical question, "You actually _were_ telling the truth."

Doing his best to look affronted, Jack replied, "I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised."

"With good reason!" A new voice interjected, heralding the arrival of a bedraggled looking Will Turner.

Slightly put off by how enthusiastically Lizzie greeted him, and noticing out of the corner of his eye how Norrington seemed to feel the same way, Jack did his best to put the scene out of his mind. Instead, he asked in a somewhat confused tone, "How did you get here?"

"Sea turtles, mate," Will replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "A pair of them, strapped to my feet."

Will Turner was quite possibly one of the only people alive who knew, as fact, that Jack's story about escaping the Rum Runner's Isle by riding sea turtles was a crock of shit, what with Lizzie knowing from her time on the island. Still, Jack wasn't about to let a good story be ruined by something like facts; instead, he merely grinned, if a bit forced, and remarked, "Not so easy it is?"

"But I do owe you thanks Jack." This, Jack was confused by, a fact he expressed, before Will continued, "After you tricked me on that ship to square your debt with Jones..." Ah, right, yes, he had done that; and Lizzie was looking decidedly angry now. "...I was reunited with my father."

Jack tried to recover face as best he could, replying, "Oh, well... you're welcome then."

Storming over to him, Lizzie fumed, "Everything you told me, every word of it was a lie?"

Shrugging helplessly, Jack answered flippantly, "Pretty much. Time and tide, love." Seeing Will pull something from around his neck, and kneel down before the chest, Jack realised that young Master William had come through with Jones' key after all, but, that chest was not for him to play around with; the fact Will also produced a dagger spoke poorly of his intentions. "Oi! What are you doing?"

"I'm going to kill Jones," Will replied, plain as day.

"Can't let you do that William," Jack stated, producing his sword. "Cos if Jones is dead, who's to call his terrible beastie off the hunt, eh?" Jack kept his sword point near Will's throat as the boy stood, before holding out a hand. "Now, if you please. The key."

Will surprised him slightly by grabbing Lizzie's sword. "I keep the promises I make, Jack. I intend to free my father. I hope you're here to see it."

"I can't let you do that either," Norrington added, producing his own sword. "So sorry." For a minute, Jack almost thought Norrington had gotten into the proper pirate spirit, before he continued, "Lord Beckett desires the contents of that chest. I deliver it, I get my life back."

Of course. Predictable, but Jack could almost respect Norrington for that. "Ah, the dark side of ambition."

"Oh I prefer to see it as the promise of redemption." With no further words, a three way battle over possession of the key was joined, leaving Lizzie to guard the chest. After a brief scuffle that yielded Jack the key, he took off running across the sand, silently cursing Zola for falling behind.

He'd've had the beating thing by now if not for the key running off on him.

o-o-o

Cleaving the X-Blade through a Wild Bruiser, destroying it in a single strike, Sora paused a moment to regain his breath and take stock of the fight, trusting Kairi and Namine to protect him. The X-Blade, as gaudy and unwieldy as it was, had turned out to be a remarkably effective weapon when it came to destroying creatures of darkness. However, while he could summon it his other Drive forms, and even his base form, if he tried, he could only effectively fight with it in Prime Form, both because he was stronger and faster, and because in this form, his light and darkness were truly balanced; the fact he had 2 other Keyblades fighting autonomously didn't help either. But while the Unversed army was over halfway destroyed, he was already flagging; using this form just burned through his Drive energy so quickly!

"Pathetic Sora," a taunting voice sneered, before a Dark Corridor opened up, Vanitas stepping out of it, his Void Gear Keyblade already in hand, "You have the power of the X-Blade, the single most powerful weapon in existence, and still you can barely put up a fight."

"What do you want Vanitas?" Sora barked, drawing himself upright again, before spinning on the spot to bisect a Chrono Twister that has snuck up on him.

"What do I want?" Vanitas drawled, a smirk in his tone, but his face hidden behind his helmet. "What I want, Sora, is to see how good you are. To see what makes you tick. To see just what my rival will bring to bear against me when we finally square off. You want to know what I've learned so far?"

"Not overly," Sora replied, cleaving through a mass of Scrappers in a single swing, "I'm a little busy killing your minions."

"You're like a child, playing with a gun as though it was a toy, never once understanding how powerful or dangerous it truly is. And you get so excited over small victories, when you fail to see even a hint of the real picture. You think slaying these Unversed changes anything?" Vanitas laughed mockingly for a short moment. "They are constructs made of nothing but negative emotions and pure darkness. As long as those emotions still exist, I can recreate them with but a thought." Shaking his head sadly, the masked teen added, "And you call yourself a Keyblade Master? Even **Ventus** was better than you, and he was a mere apprentice."

"Why do you care?" Sora grunted, stabbing the X-Blade into the ground as both anchor and shield against a Wild Bruiser's charge, while Creation and Oblivion shredded the giant ape. Yanking the weapon out of the sand again, Sora cast his eyes about, noticing that the remaining Unversed were engaging the girls, so he instead focused his attention fully on Vanitas, aiming the massive Keyblade at him. "I thought your goal was simply to kill me and steal my heart, in no particular order."

"Kill you?" Vanitas sneered, barking a cruel laugh. "Sora, if I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead. No matter what Xehanort believes, the Heartless will listen to me over him, and the Unversed are mine alone."

"What's your point?" Sora asked, an eyebrow raised in question, "That you have lots of minions? I think I've proven quite adept at killing them."

"Oh, certainly, no Heartless or Unversed is truly a match for a wielder of the Keyblade," Vanitas shrugged, "But if my only goal was your death, I would simply send every one of them after you at once. Yes, many of them will die, but your strength has limits; the force I could bring against you, however, does not." Snapping his fingers, Vanitas summoned an Unversed about as tall as he was, wearing what looked like a graduate's gown and mortarboard hat, carrying a large book. "This Mimic Master, for example. I am quite certain that you could kill it with a bit of effort. But how well would you do against three of them?" With that remark, two more appeared to either side of it.

Shifting the X-Blade into a two-handed grip and eyeing the three Unversed like he expected them to attack any second, Sora remarked, "I ask again: what do you want?"

"I want to make you stronger," Vanitas replied simply, "More importantly, I want to make Ventus' heart stronger, as that's what the heart I truly want, not yours. Without Ventus' heart, you would be nothing; you wouldn't even have a Keyblade. What I want, Sora, is to make you as strong as you could possibly be, to make you stronger than any Keyblade Wielder that ever was, until even Eraqus looks a novice compared to you. And I want you to be that strong so that you'll know exactly how **insignificant** you are when all that power fails to stop me from killing you, and everything you love." Grinning maliciously, he added with a half-shrug, "Maybe if you're lucky, I'll do it in that order, so you don't have to watch them die."

"You son of a bitch!" Sora snarled, launching himself towards Vanitas, fully intending on running him through before the middle Mimic Master swung it's massive book in an overhead smash, the shockwave alone sending Sora reeling back; the other two, meanwhile, seemed to disappear into their books, which flew around leaving a trail of fire before they re-emerged behind him, leaving him surrounded.

Opening a Dark Corridor behind him, Vanitas left one final parting comment. "I suppose it's not really fair making you fight three all alone, but then, I was never much interested in fair play."

The dark teen's exit prevented him from hearing the retort, though it didn't come from his counterpart; instead, it came from on high as Namine, in the guise of Rinoa, swooped in, dropping Kairi next to her as she reverted back. "You're not alone Sora," the blonde girl stated firmly, resummoning her Kingdom Key and Florral Fallal, and slipping into a fighting stance much like the Samurai Nobodies.

Tide of Remembrance held loosely in her right hand, Kairi, beside her, was already charging up a small in her left. "We've got your back Sora." Nodding, Sora focused his attention on the one in front of him. As much as he'd like to believe otherwise, his girls were probably no match for a single Mimic Master even if they fought together, let alone fighting one each, but he put his faith in them to do whatever it took to survive until he'd killed his one.

Narrowing his eyes as he used Quick Run to close the distance with his target, Sora swore they wouldn't be waiting long.

o-o-o

'Sora, what's taking you so damned long?' Riku growled to himself, Heart of Destiny parrying a quick flurry of sword slashes from the Samurai and Dark Knight Nobodies assaulting him, before shifting to Way to the Dawn as he spun to cleave an Assassin that was sneaking up on him in half. Jack, Sora and the girls had been gone maybe ten minutes, fifteen at the most, when Nobodies began warping onto the deck of the _Black Pearl_. Several of the pirates had gotten hurt in the initial scuffle, before Riku and River had managed to round them up, and even now some of the bravest, or more foolish, still fought with the Creepers and Dusks that appeared, leaving the stronger ones for the two off-worlders.

Riku wasn't worried about the fate of a few pirates, though; so long as Sora came back from that island safe Riku would gladly leave this world behind him. What was worrying him is that the island wasn't so big that they shouldn't have found that chest and been back by now, considering they had that compass directing them to exactly where it was buried.

Which meant, of course, that Sora was likely up to his eyeballs in trouble, as usual. Not that Riku himself wasn't in a similar boat right now.

Fortunately for Riku, River was proving remarkably good, despite this being her first real battle since getting her Keyblade; he took a lot of satisfaction in seeing her throwing the Dancer Nobodies around, instead of them throwing her. She seemed to instinctively know which Nobodies were too strong for her, aiming them in his direction before twisting away at speeds that made his head spin, while diving into the legion of Nobodies she could kill herself.

Pausing a moment, he felt heat rising in his face as he noticed how snug those short of Kairi's she'd borrowed were sitting. As if hearing his thoughts, River herself stopped in mid-movement, shooting Riku a stern glance that made him duck his head; fortunate for him he did, as it was just in time for a Dark Knight's sword to pass through the space his head had once occupied. 'Right, battle now, contemplate later.'

In all honestly, Riku wasn't entirely sure what to make of River. The first thing she'd done upon waking up from Namine 'fixing' her mind was to crash-tackle him and say she was 'staking her claim', but the issue had been dropped almost as quickly as it had come up. Truth be told, they'd never been given the chance to take the issue further, because Riku himself had been training with Shepherd Book, and upon demonstrating the Mark of Mastery, he'd officially become the 'Master' to River's 'Apprentice', which only added another layer of complexity.

'I guess, when all's said and done, I don't really _mind_ being "claimed",' Riku mused to himself, 'I mean, she does have cute-' The thought was abruptly terminated as a hiss of pain escaped Riku's lips, the teen instinctively jumping backwards from the continued assault of the Samurai that had managed to catch his arm while he was distracted. 'Damnit, focus, you can think about River's cute- gah, later!' Ignoring the blood running down his arm, Riku returned the favour, driving Way to the Dawn through the Samurai's head, before he noticed that the other Nobodies near him had stopped fighting.

Before he could begin to wonder why, a voice remarked sarcastically, "That looks nasty. You should really get that looked at."

Eyes narrowing as Xurik walked out from behind a phalanx of Dark Knights, Riku adjusted his Keyblade, the weapon shifting form to Heart of Destiny as he drawled, "What do you want? You here for round two?"

"Hardly," Xurik replied dismissively, "If I wanted you gone, I'd just take Vanitas' approach and swarm you with waves of minions until you fell. No, I'm just here to talk. You see, we have an interesting situation here, you and me. By rights, one of us shouldn't exist."

"I'm happy to correct that error right now," Riku replied conversationally, carefully reaching into his left pocket for one of the many potions he kept there; if this turned into a fight, he wanted his arm healed pronto.

"I'm sure you would be," Xurik deadpanned, before continuing, "Nobodies were not meant to live alongside their Somebodies; it goes against the natural order. And yet here we are. This has only happened three times in known history, first with 'Ansem' and Xemnas, then with Sora and Roxas, and now us. And you know another interesting fact I found?" Without waiting for Riku's reply, he added, "In both previous cases, neither of the 'Somebodies' were really Somebodies at all, but were merely Heartless in human form."

Baring his teeth as the grip on his weapon tightened a bit, Riku retorted, "Do you have a point to this?"

"More a curiosity than a conclusion," Xurik replied with something of a speculative tone. "I wonder what would happen should your heart again become consumed by darkness? Would you spawn another me, or would you merely shed your human form, as Sora did on many occasions, and unleash the Heartless within." Pausing, he cast a glance at River, remarking, "I wonder what event could drive you to answer this curiosity for me." When Riku snarled at him, Xurik just grinned, opening a Dark Corridor and leaving as abruptly as he'd arrived, the remaining Nobodies following soon after.

The battle was over, for now at least, but the first stone had already been cast in the war. And with the veiled threat against River, Riku never stopped to consider what Xurik meant by 'Vanitas' approach'.

o-o-o

Sora grit his teeth, focusing all of his remaining strength into maintaining the Reflect barrier. The first of the three Mimic Masters had gone down with surprising ease. With the last of his Drive energy, Sora had simply used the same attack routine he had used to defeat Hades; if memory served, Ventus referred to is as 'Multivortex'. The X-Blade must've provided him with a bigger power boost than he'd first thought, because despite hoe difficult Ventus' memories said the Mimic Master was to defeat, that single flurry of attacks had shredded it.

Unfortunately, Sora had dropped out of Prime Form moments later, so he couldn't repeat that on the other two. Still, he'd been able to relieve Namine and send her to help Kairi with the third one while he wore the second one down himself. Everything was going well too, with neither teams taking any significant damage, while slowly wearing down the Unversed; that was, until the pair of them both began using their Gyro Laser technique at the same time.

As Sora remembered all too late, the black beam of Darkness, spinning anti-clockwise at around head height, caused temporary blindness if it hit, while the golden beam of Light merely caused damage. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you saw it, Sora discovered the hard way that while the black beam did next to nothing to him, the golden beam did far more damage than Ventus' memories would suggest; Kairi, in turn, discovered the hard way that the reverse was true for her. And with two Mimic Masters working together, alternating as need be, they could keep up their attack indefinitely.

Which lead to their current predicament. With some quick thinking, and fast co-ordination, Sora had managed to rush over to the girls, diving between beams as appropriate, and cover both of them with the barrier while they recovered their eyesight. The Mimic Masters, in turn, had opted to change tactics slightly, moving closer and sweeping only the stronger golden beam against the barrier's edge. Sora had very quickly burnt through his own reserves of mana, so the girls had use the technique he taught them to share their own mana with him. Unfortunately, while Namine's eyesight had returned fairly quickly once out of the black beam, Kairi's condition seemed more permanent, and with all three of them maintaining the shield, none of them were able to cast the Esuna needed to clear it.

"Namine," Sora remarked slowly, "When I drop the shield, you need to keep Kairi safe until either she recovers, or one of you regains enough mana to clear it."

"No Sora," Kairi replied, "There's no way you can take them both."

"I have to," Sora stated solemnly. "Vanitas was right. I'm not strong enough, not to protect you. I need to get better, and Ventus knows how, but the only way I can get that knowledge is to _use_ it." Sora grinned at the girls over his shoulder, adding, "Trust me."

Giving him a wan look, Namine pointed out, "Do you forget what happened the _last_ few times you asked that of us?"

"We're still alive, aren't we?" Sora retorted, closing his eyes as he sent a silent prayer to the second heart living inside him. 'Ventus, I need your help. Please.' His eyes slid open again, an inner light shining through his pupils, before intoning slowly, "Now."

When the Reflect barrier fell, all the energy that had been thrown against it and collected was released in a concussive shockwave. And almost before it his, Sora was there, using Sliding Dash to close the distance with one of the Mimic Masters. Hitting it with a rapid Blitz attack combo, he noticed the other one preparing to use Gyro Laser again, interrupting it with a quick Strike Raid from his off-hand Twilight Thorn, before using Oblivion to launch his target skywards, leaping after it and sending it back into the sand with a punishing Aerial Slam.

To Namine's eyes (and what little Kairi could see with her slowly returning vision) Sora released a corona of light, before he took on a soft white glow as he tapped further into Ventus' powers. All Sora noticed, however, was that he was faster and stronger than before, but not by enough. Using his Magnega spell, Sora dragged the second Mimic Master over, dazing it briefly with Stun Edge, before focusing attention on his main target, bringing Oblivion up in just enough time to block the overhead slam of the enemy's book, unleashing a Counter Rush in retaliation.

Focusing his attention as he did left him open to being slammed by the no-longer stunned second Mimic Master, but allowed him to counter with Payback Raid, launching both Keyblades, one each, at his enemies. When they began powering up Gyro Lasers again though, Sora knew he had to end this, unleashing two of Ventus' most devastating attacks in sequence. First, freezing the enemies in place with Time Splicer, teleporting between them to strike rapidly with both Keyblades, but focusing more on the weaker one, before finishing off one of them by calling down a mighty Tornado in top of it, scattering the darkness that made it up to the winds.

Namine had to shield her eyes briefly, and Kairi found the last of the darkness clouding her vision blown away, as Sora unleashed a second corona of light, much brighter than before, and this time, he had more than a glow to show for the change. No longer did Sora hold two Keyblades; instead, at his back were six swords made of pearlescent blue light. Unfortunately, Sora wasn't the only one to change. With just one Mimic Master left, Sora realised why they were getting progressively stronger - as one fell, its power was given to the survivors, meaning this last one had the strength of three.

It would aid it not, Sora vowed.

The Mimic Master began to glow with dark energy (if something black could be said to glow), before being consumed by its book, moments before said book exploded, scattering pages everywhere that hovered in place. And within seconds, those pages began to change, warping into copies of Sora, Kairi, and Namine. Swords flashing, Sora began cutting them down almost as fast as they could spawn, trusting that Kairi and Namine would do their part to hold them off. Once he was in the very centre of the scattered pages, though, Sora decided to finish this fight once and for all.

With a wave of his arms, his swords flew out, homing in on the pages and the clones that stepped from them, using a technique Ventus called Wind Raid. Once all the pages were destroyed, and the Mimic Master reappeared, Sora leapt high into the air above it, launching all six swords down in a perimeter around it, before diving down, a snowflake-like sigil flashing into existence briefly, the swords at the edges and Sora in the middle, before it exploded into pure Light, leaving no trace of the Unversed behind.

Turning slowly towards his girls, Sora gave them a tired thumbs up, before falling back onto the sand, his energy drained. The fight was over, for now at least. All that remained was getting back to the ship, and hoping Jack had found the chest already.

o-o-o

Riku felt a good amount of relief when he saw the longboat heading back towards the _Black Pearl_; that sense of relief lasted just long enough for it to come close enough for him to see only five people on it, instead of the eight that left on it. Keeping River next to him, Riku muttered mostly to himself, "Something went wrong. I guess we weren't the only ones who got attacked."

"Two teams. Three types of enemies," River pointed out, quirking her head to one side as she added, "Maybe four, if we're unlucky. Maybe more again." Pressing the fingers of one hand against her temple, she concluded, "I picked up a few things while you were fighting Xurik, but it's not clear yet. Just... fragments."

Nodding silently, the two of them slipped into a tense silence, broken as the returning crew began climbing aboard. Heading over to meet them, he was beaten there by Sparrow's first mate - Gibbs if he remembered right - who asked, "Where's the Commodore?"

"And where are Sora, Kairi and Namine?" Riku interjected.

"Fell behind," Jack remarked, in a disinterested tone.

"Fell behind?" Riku parroted, disbelieving. "What the hell-"

"Pirates code," River replied quietly from beside him. "Any man who falls behind, is left behind." She paused a moment as Gibbs went on about 'not wallowing in their grief' before adding, "You told me they'd be fine. They'll be fine."

Riku smiled slightly, nodding. "You're right. They'll be fine." Sounding more confident, he remarked, "I'll contact them once we can be sure they're safe."

At the corner of their hearing, both teens could hear Gibbs state, "The bright side if you're back, and made it off free and clear." As the laws of drama dictated, something Riku was quickly learning was now his life, this comment was immediately heralded by the _Flying Dutchman_ bursting out of the water within spitting distance beside them. Gibbs summed it up pretty well for all of them when he remarked breathlessly, "Lord of high, deliver us."

o-o

Watching Sparrow's antics aboard his ship, Davy Jones felt a moment of worry; Jack wouldn't be that confident if he'd returned from Isla Cruces empty-handed. Turning slightly to watch the reaction of the boy that had appeared inside the captain's cabin while they were still under water, he asked quietly, "Did he get it?"

"I held up my end of the bargain," Xurik replied calmly. "None of the Keybearers got anywhere near the chest. If Jack got his hand on the contents of the chest, it's because your men failed, not mine."

Jones nodded, satisfied. There was no way that boy could've gotten to the island in time to give Sparrow the key, so clearly he was bluffing. Tiring of his monkey antics, Jones turned to his first mate and stated. "Enough. Send his beloved _Pearl_ back to the depths."

The battle that followed was brief, as the _Black Pearl_ quickly managed to outpace the slower _Flying Dutchman_, a fact quickly confirmed when a crew member declared they were out of range. Still standing beside Jones, Xurik asked, "Do you want me to send my Nobodies to slow them down?"

"No need boy," Jones replied, calling out, "Break off pursuit, run her light and douse canvas!"

Xurik's own question was voiced when the hammer-headed first mate Maccus asked, "We giving up sir?"

Jones just smiled cruelly.

o-o

"They're giving up!" Marty cried from his position up the mast.

The moment of cheer that followed cut off as abruptly as the ship's forward momentum did. Riku noticed with some amusement that Captain Sparrow lost his grip on that jar of dirt he had, which promptly shattered when it met the deck. By the way he quickly started pawing through the dirt, Riku assumed he'd hidden something in it; something he couldn't find.

One of the crew members, glancing into the water, remarked, "We must have hit a reef!"

Riku felt all the blood drain from his face, as he suddenly remembered why sailors back on Destiny Islands were so terrified of Davy Jones, despite no sightings in years; he should've known it was too easy. "It's not a reef!" He called out, startling the crew; they'd only seen him go into action against the otherworldly Nobodies, so if he showed concern, they had right to be worry. "Get away from the rail!"

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.

River herself paled at the thought she picked up from Riku's mind, asking breathlessly, "The kraken?" While she herself didn't know much about the kraken, she'd picked up enough from the crew, and Riku himself, to be afraid; the fact the ambient fear among the crew jumped when he confirmed her query didn't help things. Some days, it really sucked to be a Reader.

"To arms!" Will roared, spurring the crew into action.

Riku summoned Way to the Dawn, a grim seriousness settling over him. From what he remembered of legends of the kraken, there was nothing they could do to actually kill the beast. Staying meant death. Shaking his head sadly, he stated softly to River, "We need to get out of here."

"And leave them here to die?" River hissed back.

"There's nothing we can do for them now," Riku retorted, "And they're in even greater danger if we stay. A single pack of Heartless or Nobodies could rip apart any defence they put together against the kraken, and Xurik has a whole army at his disposal. We need to leave now, while there's still a chance they can succeed."

Frowning, River sighed. "I don't like it... but you're right."

Summoning his armour as River did the same, Riku turned to the shocked crew, specifically looking at Will and Elizabeth, offering a simple "Sorry" before summoning his Keyblade Glider, the two of them climbing aboard and flying off into a rift to the Lanes Between with no further fanfare. His final thought before the gateway closed behind him was 'Sora, stay safe.'

* * *

Author's Notes

Well, that took entirely too long to get out. I think I should stop trying to predict how long it'll take me, as I always wind up being _way_ off. At least over half of the next chapter is already written... I didn't even mean for this one to run on as it did, I fully intended to finish up in _Port Royal_ before this chapter was over, but oh well.

It might already be obvious, but when I was writing that scene more-or-less from Jack's point of view, I tried to refer to the other characters as Jack himself would have.


	7. Distant Shores

**"Are you sure you're okay to fly?"**

"I'm okay Namine," Sora reassured the girl, guiding his Keyblade Glider away from the island, making sure to take a wide path to avoid the skeletal-looking ship that could only be Davy Jones' _Flying Dutchman_.

"Uh huh. Then how come you could only summon the bike version of your glider?" Kairi's voice asked over his shoulder, "And why are we flying so slow, and so close to the water?"

Grinning slightly, Sora retorted, "I said I was 'okay'; I never claimed to be back to full strength." Truthfully, Sora was still quite exhausted, and the only real reason he was able to stay upright, even slid so far forward in his seat as he was, was due to Kairi sitting right behind him, pressed against his back with her arms around him, and Namine sitting behind her; fortunate that the seat was large enough, barely, to hold all three of them, though it wouldn't be comfortable for long trips.

Sighing, Kairi remarked softly, "I still think you should've rested a bit longer. I don't want you working yourself into a three-day sleep again."

"We don't have time for me to rest," Sora replied gently, "We need to get back to the ship. Riku's waiting for us."

Kairi just sighed again. "I know Sora." She knew that quite well; in fact, it was that very argument that had convinced her to let Sora try, instead of forcing him to rest longer. In truth, Kairi wasn't even really mad at Sora, she was mad at herself for always being such a burden on him. He was leagues ahead of her and Namine in both power and skill, meaning they constantly had to rely on him to solve their problems.

Like right now. Sora was still recovering from defeating not one, but _three_ of those Unversed - Mimic Masters, he'd called them - and instead of getting the rest he truly needed, he was using his Keyblade Glider to fly them towards the _Black Pearl_, their fight having delayed them long enough to miss the longboat back. Then, once they met up with Riku, he would be forced to fly them _again_, this time to their next destination.

She knew if she voiced her concerns, Sora would just reassure her that she had nothing to worry about, but she knew otherwise; in her heart, she believed Namine did too. The fact was, she _did_ have much to worry about. While she knew that she and Namine were a source of Sora's strength, they were also his biggest weakness, and would be until they could properly fend for themselves. 'I **will** become stronger,' Kairi vowed to herself, 'I **will **become a Keyblade Master. I'll make you proud.'

Her thoughts, and likely Namine's too, were interrupted sighed in relief. "Finally," Sora remarked, spotting the _Black Pearl _ahead, "We made it."

"She looks a bit busted up," Namine commented, "Guess she didn't get away from the _Dutchman _scot-free."

"Wonder why they've stopped though," Kairi mused, "I hope everyone's okay."

At that very moment, as if summoned by Kairi's words, a massive tentacled monstrosity, looking like some gigantic, twisted octopus, climbed out of the water, smothered the _Black Pearl_, and dragged it beneath the waves.

The trio hovered in silence for a moment, before Kairi timidly remarked, "Oh. That's why."

* * *

- Shades of Grey -

- Dance of Light and Shadow -

Chapter 07 - Distant Shores

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

* * *

"Well, I must say Captain Jones, that was quite an impressive show," Xurik remarked idly, watching the kraken drag the _Black Pearl _beneath the waves. Sure, Riku had managed to slip away, but he'd already dispatched a squadron of Heartless ships to chase him down, mostly for the sport of it.

A smirk on his face, Davy Jones stated formally, "Jack Sparrow, our debt is settled."

"Turns out not even Jack Sparrow can best the devil," Maccus added reverently.

"There do appear to be survivor's Captain," a crew member pointed out, "There, on a longboat."

"They are of no concern to me," Jones retorted.

"Maybe not," Xurik commented, raising one arm to point at the craft, hovering above the waves, approaching said longboat, "But that there should concern you. They are _my _targets, and as per our arrangement, you agreed to assist me in their capture."

"Very well boy," Jones sneered, "But there is one thing I need to take care of first." Turning to his crew, he announced, "Bring me the chest. With the key lost, I'll need to secure it again until I can track that boy down."

The crew shifted uneasily, before one of them replied, "Captain... when we recovered the chest... we found the key with it."

There was dead silence on the ship, before Jones stated too calmly, "Open the chest." No one reacted. "Open the chest! I need to see it!" As Jones barged past his crew to reach the chest, Xurik decided that discretion was the better part of valour, opening a Dark Corridor and slipping away. The last thing he heard before it closed behind him was Davy Jones roaring, "Damn you JACK SPARROW!"

o-o-o

Sitting in the wooden shack belonging to one 'Tia Dalma', Sora slowly nursed the drink the kind, if odd, woman had provided for them, and while rum wasn't exactly the best tasting thing he had ever consumed, it did warm the bones, which was something he needed after today. The sight of the kraken dragging the _Black Pearl _to the depths was one that would stay with him forever, and not much lessened by the sight of a handful of people on a longboat paddling away as fast as possible.

Learning that Riku and River had not been on the _Pearl_when it was sunk, or even for the entire duration of their battle with the kraken, was most definitely a comfort; what was not, however, was learning that Jack Sparrow had gone down with the ship.

Sora looked up from his drink, stirred from his own mourning when he heard Will respond to something Tia Dalma had told him with, "Doesn't matter now. The _Pearl _is gone, along with its captain."

"Aye," Gibbs replied sadly, shifting inside from his vigil on the balcony, "And already the world seems a bit less bright. He fooled us all right 'til the end, but I guess that honest streak finally won out." Holding out his drink, Gibbs offered a toast, "To Jack Sparrow."

The other surviving crew members all said a good word, ending with a moment of solemn quiet before Will turned to Elizabeth, who Kairi idly noticed was looking particularly depressed, and offered, "If there was anything could be done to bring him back..."

"Would you do it?" Tia Dalma interrupted, perhaps a touch eagerly. Glancing around the survivors, she continued, "What would you... Hm? What would any of you be willing ta do? Would you sail to de ends of de Eart', and beyond, to fetch back witty Jack, and 'im precious _Pearl_?"

Gibbs was the first to step forward, replying "Aye" with a solemn nod, and the rest of the crew was quick to follow after, even Elizabeth and Will, though Sora noted that the dark-skinned woman never looked his way.

"All right," Tia Dalma continued, "But if you go and brave de weird, and haunted shores, at world's end, den you will need a captain who knows dose waters."

The crew, Sora included, watched in curiosity, then a combination of shock and mild horror, at the footsteps that could be heard descending from the floor above, revealing the grinning face of Barbossa, who asked casually, "So tell me, what's become of my ship?"

Sora was the first to shake himself from his stupor, but before he could comment, he noticed Tia Dalma silently beckoning him to follow her to the room at the back; how she'd gotten over there so fast he didn't know. Deciding to keep out of affairs that, as off-worlders, really didn't concern them, the three teens followed the woman, leaving the crew to talk to and/or interrogate the newly revived Barbossa.

Once they were out of earshot of the others, Namine could contain her curiosity no longer, asking Sora, "That was Barbossa right? I thought you said he was dead."

"Him were," Tia Dalma replied, "But de world do need him, and so, him were brought back."

Sora asked the million Munny question: "Why?"

"De fate of dis world do hang in de balance, suspended by a thread," she stated cryptically, "I cannot say what will happen, but Barbossa and witty Jack do both be needed." Her eyes finally focusing on the three of them, she continued, "But you. You twist de strands of destiny around you. Your being here upsets de balance, and dose creatures after you could destroy dis world."

"Did we cause this?" Kairi asked softly.

Tia Dalma shook her head. "No. Jack's fate was sealed when him made a deal wit' Davy Jones, one him has been fightin' ever since. But destiny is not done wit' him yet."

"We never meant to cause any harm," Namine added.

Looking squarely at Sora, she asked, "So, why did you come?"

"We seek a lost companion of ours, named Aqua," Sora replied, "We were hoping Jack's compass could help us find her. Would you be able to help us?"

She shook her head slowly. "Jack's compass, like my own powers, is tied to de seas of dis world. But..." Rummaging around in the assorted odds and ends she had, Tia Dalma produced a folded scrap of cloth, handing it to Sora with, "Here, you will find somet'ing dat will point you to what you seek."

Unfolding the cloth, Sora found a single picture, that of a circle with strange markings on it, with a curved cross over it - a planet with two rings around it, unless he missed his guess - and already he could already picture the new World he would no doubt find within the Lanes Between. With a respectful "Thank you" Sora and the girls headed off to say their goodbyes.

With a new destination in mind, Sora only hoped Riku would contact them before they got there.

o-o-o

"Riku! There's more coming up on the right!" Swinging around and firing off a quick barrage of Fire spells, River added, "And I'm running low on energy."

"Damn," Riku cursed, swerving out of the way as a few Heartless ships tried to ram him, as he channelled most of his own mana into maintaining the Dark Shield keeping the other ships' laser fire from hitting him. They had come under fire within minutes of their retreat into the Lanes Between, and despite River managing to shoot down no less than twenty Heartless ships, they were still quickly being overwhelmed.

The Keyblade Glider shook violently, as Riku's shield was struck dead on by both beams from one of the enemy ships. Cursing in Chinese, River spun in her seat, enough that she would have likely fallen off if not for the arm still around Riku's waist, and destroyed the offending ship with an arc of Thunder magic. "We can't keep this up forever!" River called out.

As Riku turned his head to reply, something to the effect of 'we'll need to find somewhere to land', he did, in fact, do just that, noticing a World he didn't recognise out of the corner of his eye; he couldn't make out many of the details about how the World was represented bar water and something shiny. "Hold your attack and grab on tight," he replied tersely, "We're gonna land on that nearby World, and I'll have to take us down fast to outrun these Heartless."

Throwing his Keyblade Glider into a dive, Riku spiralled down the Lanes Between like a boat in a maelstrom, both to avoid enemy fire and to confound his foes as to where he was going. As two Heartless ships collided trying to follow him down, Riku quickly pulled up, launching his Glider through the gap in the enemy formation and straight towards the strange World he had spotted; glancing back, he noticed many more ships crashing into each other as they tried to follow him.

Passing through the World Barrier, Riku found himself flying a good ways above a paved road; thankfully, there didn't seem to be any witnesses to what he could only assume would be a strange occurrence. Just as Riku was about to suggest finding some place to hide, River pointed out a yellow and orange building - sandstone and brick, if Riku had to guess - the entryway of which was flanked by columns. Landing on the side walk and dispelling his Glider, the pair banished their armour; just in time too, as before they could make a move towards the building, an odd black vehicle pulled up to it. The closest thing River could relate it to was a carriage, but there were no horses pulling it along.

A man, presumably the driver, stepped out of the vehicle and opened the back door, moments before a stodgy man raced out of the building, coat-flaps trailing behind him as he leapt into the vehicle. A man in a tan coat and a pith helmet followed him out, and while the two teens weren't close enough to hear what they were saying, it was obvious the younger, taller man was making some sort of plea to the shorter, fatter man in the vehicle; a plea that seemingly fell on deaf ears as the black vehicle started leaving.

The younger man chased after the car, continuing his plea, and even going so far as to leap atop the front of it, only to be thrown off moments later. With a final remark to the man now sprawled in a heap on the pavement, the vehicle left. Sharing a nod with River, the two teens hurried after him, Riku offering the man a hand up and asking, "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I mean no. I mean..." Accepting the hand up, the man continued, "I'm not injured, if that's what you were asking, but..." With a sigh, he added, "I wouldn't say I'm okay." Trying to wring some of the water the vehicle's departure splashed on him out of his shirt, the man continued, "I mean, I finally locate where the Shepherd's Journal was hidden, and the director doesn't even want to hear about it. He even went as far as to change the time of our meeting and not *tell* me until after it was passed. I mean, it's not like this is *important* or anything, it's only the secret to finding Atlantis!"

The man, who still hadn't given his name, would probably have continued his rant if Riku, who'd been trying to find a way to politely excuse himself and River, hadn't interrupted. "Wait, Atlantis? The lost sunken city?"

"You know of Atlantis?"

Riku shrugged uneasily, unsure of how much he was able to tell this man. Having grown up on Destiny Islands, where water was very much a part of their culture, he knew a lot of legends about things that resided in or under it; and if Davy Jones was anything to go by, many of these legends were likely true. "Just stories and legends."

"I _know _it's real." The man stated firmly, before blinking, as though realising for the first time he was conversing with actual people. "I'm sorry, where are my manners. My name's Milo Thatch."

A rumble of thunder interrupted their conversation, before River remarked, "I'm River, he's Riku, but perhaps we should continue this somewhere drier than this is gonna be soon."

"The museum's closing soon, so why don't we go to my apartment?" Milo offered, "Come on, we'll get a cab."

Nodding slightly, Riku let their new friend lead them away, silently hoping that the Sora way of dealing with strange new worlds didn't backfire on him.

o-o-o

"We're almost there now." Glancing over Sora's shoulder, Namine took a good look at the ringed planet they were approaching, and the tiny boats floating around near it. Travelling the Lanes Between, she was quickly learning, was a lot different from flying through space like they had on the _Serenity_. One of the biggest differences was that the World they saw in the Lanes encompassed everything the World had to offer, and made something of a summary of what the world was about, and what it had to offer. When actually inside the world, though, it might look nothing like it did from the Lanes.

At least, the part you first encountered might not, but what you saw from the outside was always on the inside somewhere.

Shaking her head, Namine rested her cheek against Sora's back again, hugging him tighter; sure, the both of them were encased in armour, but the feeling of closeness was all she really wanted. When it had come time to leave Port Royal, Sora had been once again unable to summon the jet version of his glider, still plagued by his exhaustion, though neither he nor the girls could understand why he hadn't been able to recover enough of his strength yet. As Kairi had rode in the middle before, she'd given her sister the chance to take her place for this trip, which was, like the flight over the Caribbean Sea, turning out to be blessedly short.

Namine wracked her brain to try and work out just what was wrong with Sora. She had a feeling that something like this had happened before, but it wasn't to her, nor was it to Sora; the memory was there though, just out of reach, taunting her. Kairi had more skill in examining people's hearts, so if there was a problem there, Kairi would find it sooner or later, so Namine was doing her part, going over Sora's memories to see if there was something hidden in there that could help piece the puzzle together.

The World Barrier was upon them before any of them knew it, and the overloaded Keyblade Glider slipped through without much of an issue; in fact, neither Namine nor Kairi were broken out of their respective introspections (Did that term still apply when you were studying someone else who was still part of you? Namine wasn't sure...) until the Lanes Between faded away and was replaced by a deep blue, almost black, sky visible in all directions, filled with a curtain of pinpoints of light.

It took a few skipped heartbeats from all three of them to realise that, wherever they weren't now, they weren't in 'space' as defined by the World _Serenity _was a part of, though there were many similarities, such as a sense of weightlessness unless you were held down by something. They had come out of the Lanes above a fairly barren, rocky-looking planet, so having no other destination in mind, Sora guided his Glider towards the planet. As they began to draw closer, and the sky began to change to a more comforting sky blue, the girls noticed some sort of building below them, with a metal roof and a long steel dock to one side.

It was only a second later when they realised they were approaching the building far too quickly.

"Sora! What are you doing?" Namine cried, twisting her head towards where his eyes would be through the visor, while glancing briefly at his surface thoughts. Her eyes widened in horror inside her helmet when she noticed that there _were _no surface thoughts. "Crap! He's passed out."

"That's not good," Kairi replied from behind her, glancing down at the fast-approaching planet, "We're coming in too fast. Even if we bailed out, we'd still hit that jetty at high speeds; or worse, miss it entirely and wind up falling into whatever is below it. Damnit! If only one of us could summon our own Glider..."

With a sudden idea, Namine saw that they didn't need to; she kept focusing on how she was still a part of Kairi, while forgetting that half of her heart belonged to Sora. "Kairi, do you know how to cast either Barrier or Reflect? Because I need you to put a field around us just in case what I'm about to do doesn't work."

Kairi wasted no time, releasing Namine with one hand to summon Oathkeeper, though after a short test cast to see if she had it right, she saved her mana for if she needed to soften the landing. "What are you going to do?"

The visor of the blonde girl's helmet began emitting a gentle white light, as she placed her hands on top of Sora's and intoned, "I am assuming direct control." If asked later, Namine honestly wouldn't have been able to say whether her consciousness left her body and entered Sora's, or whether she'd merely used her mimic powers to copy him, but once control had been established, however tentatively, Namine focused all of her will into slowing them down; with the time they had left she couldn't hope to avoid a crash all together, but she would do whatever was she could to lessen the blow.

Kairi held her breath, cheering inside as the Glider began to slow, so much so that they missed the metal jetty entirely and had time to aim their landing towards the rocks; a crash there may not strictly hurt much less, but Namine figured anything was better than slamming into a hard metal surface at this point. About three seconds before they hit, Kairi cast her Barrier spell, holding out with all her strength, and the Glider skipped briefly like a pebble tossed across a pond, before coming to land with a slide that stopped metres before they ran out of road.

Sighing in relief, Kairi released her spell, before the two girls gingerly climbed to her feet, Namine remarking, "Well, that wasn't so bad. Any landing you can walk away from, and all that."

Shaking her head as she banished her Keyblade and armour, Kairi glanced at the sign near by that read 'Benbow Inn' and replied tiredly, "Come on, let's get him inside. Hopefully they'll have a warm meal and a soft bed available."

o-o-o

Riku was having a weird day, which was saying a lot considering he'd been travelling around with Sora for a while. First, not only had Milo Thatch, a complete stranger to River and himself, opened up to them about why he'd been recently thrown from a moving vehicle, he had instantly befriended them, inviting the two of them to stay the night at his apartment. On the way there, River had seemingly overcome her bought of shyness and began engaging Milo in conversation, talking about topic that went right over Riku's head, so after a while he tuned them out completely. What little he'd heard, though, led him to believe that River was cheating and skimming Milo's mind for information; he knew she was smart, but he doubted she knew _that _much about archaeology, or whatever it was Milo did.

By fortunate timing, the rain didn't hit until they had reached his apartment building, but when it did, it hit hard. When they got there, however, they'd found that not only was the power out, but there was some woman inside Milo didn't seem to know. She'd introduced herself as Helga Sinclair, stating she was there on behalf of her employer Mr. Whitmore, with a business proposal. At that point, Riku had fully expected to be dismissed - after all, they _were _strangers - but Milo had insisted that he and River be allowed to join him.

Which is why the four of them were now crammed into this little metal cage inside some opulent mansion, with Helga lecturing Milo about the Do's and Do Not's about meeting this Whitmore guy, as they descended deeper into the building. 'Is this what a day is Sora's life is like?' He mused to himself. 'After what's happened these last couple years, I'm not used to being trusted so easily by people.' Noticing Helga giving him a pointed look as she continued to lecture Milo, he amended that thought to, 'Well, being trusted by _some _people at least...'

As the metal cage stopped descending, Helga all but pushed the three of them off, closing it again with the parting words of, "And relax. He doesn't bit... often."

The room they found themselves in was massive, with numerous bookshelves reaching all the way up to the ceiling, which was about as tall as the ballroom at Beast's Castle. Riku and River let Milo lead, before the man stopped in front of the fireplace, noticing the painting of two grey-haired men sitting above it and asking the room, "Grandpa?"

"Finest explorer I ever met," A gruff but friendly voice remarked, which they quickly traced to a man, identical to one of the men in the painting, sitting in a bathrobe on a low wooden chair and twisting his limbs in ways they were not meant to. "Preston Whitmore. Pleasure to meet you Milo." With both arms twisted behind his head, Whitmore used one leg to crack his neck to one side, and the other to shake hands with Milo, before offering, "Join me in a little yoga?"

"Uh, no, no. Thank you." Milo replied haltingly, asking, "Did you really know my grandfather?"

"Oh, yeah." Whitmore replied, now twisted such that his feet were atop his head. "Met old Thaddeus back in Georgetown. Class of Sixty-Six. We stayed close friends 'til the end of his days. Even dragged me along on some of his danged fool expeditions. Thatch was crazy as a fruit bat, he was." Finally standing upright, he added, "He spoke of you often."

Riku turned away, glancing around the cavernous room and leaving the two to their conversation; if anything important was said, no doubt River would tell him later. Glancing around the room, Riku couldn't help thinking back to their arrival on the world of Port Royal. When they'd arrived in the pirate town of Tortuga, Sora had mentioned that in his experience, wherever they first landed on the world, was where they were meant to be. Riku'd asked Sora later what he meant by that, and he'd explained that, generally, the first person they met was the one they needed to 'help' in order to 'finish' the world and move on to the next one.

Did that mean Riku was supposed to help Milo find Atlantis? He couldn't for the life of him think of how.

The teen wasn't sure how long he'd been lost in thought when he heard Whitmore remark, "Your granddad had a saying. 'Our lives are remembered by the gifts we leave our children.' This journal is his gift to you, Milo. Atlantis is waiting. What do you say?" Milo, understandably, seemed quite excited to be given the chance to fulfil his life's ambition, so, smiling patiently, Whitmore added, "Why don't you take a bit of time to study that journal." Striding over to a nearby door, he glanced between the room's other two occupants, before opening the door and beckoning them in. "I'd just like to have a quick, private chat with your friends here."

As they followed the grey-haired man into the smaller room, Riku couldn't help but feel he didn't like the look in Preston Whitmore's eyes.

o-o-o

"Ugh, did anyone catch that Behemoth that sat on me?" Groaning in pain, Sora sat up carefully, finding himself becoming oddly used to waking up in strange rooms. Spotting Kairi sitting nearby, he turned his head slowly in her direction, asking, "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us Sora," Kairi replied, snapping her book shut. "You passed out on approach to this planet, and we almost crashed. Again. That's really starting to become a habit of yours..."

"How long was I out for this time? Did Riku contact us yet?" He asked, glancing towards the armband computer he'd received from Tron, only to find it missing. "Hey, where's the bracer?"

"I have it," Namine remarked, slipping back into the room with three plates of food, "I figured since I was the only one here who really knows how to use a computer, I should hold onto it. There's been no word from Riku yet though. And you were out for about six hours this time." Sharing a look with Kairi as she helped her sister set the plates down on the short table in the room, she added, "On the plus side, it did give us a bit of time to try and work out what was happening to you."

"Did you find out anything?"

"Some," Namine nodded, "But not nearly as much as we'd have liked. I get the feeling there's a memory of something similar to this buried inside your heart somewhere, but I just can't seem to find it. I did narrow it down to being one of Roxas' memories though, which is something."

"What we've worked out so far," Kairi continued, "Is that you drew too deeply of Ventus' heart. This put a lot of strain on your own heart, which, coupled with something that caused you to lose quite a bit of energy - which we haven't worked out yet - as well as the fight itself, seemed to cause you to, for lack of a better term, 'bleed' energy. Even when you were resting and should still have been regaining your strength, you were losing it almost as fast as you were getting it back. Fortunately, Namine doing whatever she did to get us on the ground in one piece seems to have stopped the 'bleeding'."

Sora nodded, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "I do feel much more rested now, so that must have been the problem." He paused at the worried looks on both of the girls' faces. "But that isn't the only problem, is it?"

"No Sora," Kairi replied, sharing a look with Namine before explaining, "I had a chance to examine Ventus' heart. Based on what you've remembered, and what Riku learned from Master Yen Sid, Ven's heart fled to your body because when you were younger, his heart was damaged, and you offered him to link with your heart until his healed. Well, over the past ten years, his heart has been healing, slowly, but what's most important is that, while linked, his heart was still separate from yours. When you drew on his power earlier though... The link between your hearts grew stronger."

Namine continued, "When I used my connection with your heart to guide your Glider to the ground, I managed to draw your heart back somewhat, but you're still more strongly connected than you were before. Ven's heart is more complete now than it was before the fight, but it did it by taking a small piece of yours; not enough to endanger you, but enough to worry us. If you keep drawing on Ven's powers, we're worried that either Ven's heart will be restored to normal by weakening yours, or, worse still, your hearts will completely fuse together."

"Ven's heart needs to be returned to his body after we find it," Kairi added, "But if your hearts are too strongly linked, we may be forced to break them apart. Ven only survived his heart being broken into two pieces fifteen years ago because your heart was there to help him. I don't know if either of you will survive it again."

o-o-o

Mr. Whitmore waited at the entryway until both Riku and River had gone inside, but he had barely closed the door behind them when he asked, "So, which one of you is it?"

Blinking at the abruptness of the question, Riku replied, "Uh, who is what?

Rather than answer the question as asked, Whitmore explained, "I've had my eye on young Milo for some time; got a man on my payroll who works down at the museum. He called me up earlier, told me what happened between Milo and that pig of a director Harcourt. And he told me about Milo meeting the two of you." Glancing between the two of them for a moment, he added, "Now, I have no problems with Milo making more friends, but don't you think it's a bit odd that he invites people he just met to a potentially important business meeting?"

Despite the inflection in his voice, Riku could tell it wasn't really a question, and by the wan look River wore, she knew that too; besides, even if it was a question, Riku didn't know the answer to it either.

Not bothered by their silence, Whitmore continued, "I knew a man once, friendliest person you'd ever meet. People'd spend all of ten minutes with him and be willing, or even eager, to share their whole life's story with him. I asked him once how he did it, what his secret was in getting people to trust him. He just smiled at me and said, 'My heart is open'." Waving his hand absently as he strode further into the room, he remarked, "I didn't get it either. The way he explained it, it wasn't that he made people trust him, it was that by opening his heart, he just sent out this feeling that he could be trusted, and people responded to it."

"Yeah," Riku replied seemingly automatically, "I know someone exactly like that."

"I thought you might," Whitmore stated, stopping in front of a cloth-covered box. Sighing, he finished his speech with, "That man was Thaddeus Thatch, and when he was coming up on the end of his days, he came to me and asked me to keep something of his, make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands." Turning towards Riku as he grasped the cloth with one hand, he commented, "Maybe you recognise it," before yanking the covering away.

Riku couldn't help the shock that came to his face. While its exact shape was unique, the basic design of the object within the glass box was unmistakable. "A Keyblade."

"I thought you might," Whitmore repeated, a sad smile on his face. "When I first met Thatch back in Sixty-Six, I was already quite a loner. Kept to myself, studied a lot. But despite all that, he managed to make me open up to him. We drifted apart a bit after a couple of years, with him disappearing some times for months at a time, until, maybe five years later, he trusted me enough to tell me his biggest secret: that there were many worlds beyond our own, and he was one of many people tasked with protecting them."

He turned back towards the Keyblade in the case, sighing softly. "I didn't believe him at first, though he showed me a few things that helped me at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Then, maybe ten or so years ago, he comes to me and says that he'd lost contact with the others, and that he'd had encounters with these strange dark creatures. He thought this world might be in danger, and that to save it, he had to 'lock its heart', whatever that means..."

Turning back to them, he continued emphatically, "He believed that this 'heart' lay in Atlantis, and he spent the rest of his years searching for it in vain. He finally made a breakthrough when he found that journal, but... He passed on shortly after." He paused, letting that sink in for a moment. "I'm asking you, please help me put an old friend at peace. Please finish his final mission."

Riku and River locked eyes, and he could see the same answer in hers that he knew had to be in his own. Turning back to Whitmore, he nodded, Way to the Dawn flashing into his hand, as River summoned Fractured Time. "We'll take care of it," the girl stated firmly.

"You get us on that expedition, and we'll make sure this world is locked," Riku added.

Whitmore smiled, his first real smile since entering this private room. "I think I can handle that."

o-o-o

Sora sat bolt upright in bed, Oblivion coming to his hand before his conscious mind had time to realise he'd summoned it. With the rest he'd had earlier, he hadn't been sleeping as deeply as the two girls, but even so, it still took him a minute or two to work out what had woke him up. 'Laser fire,' he thought to himself, remembering the sound Stitch's gun had made, 'and smoke. The inn's under attack.' "Kairi, Namine, wake up," he hissed, trying to keep his voice low lest they be discovered before they could defend themselves.

"Wha? What's goin' on?" Namine yawned sleepily.

"Fire." Sora replied sharply. "I think there are some decidedly unfriendly guests outside."

Stumbling out of bed, and in a way thankful that she hadn't bothered getting changed into sleepwear, Kairi snatched up her backpack, summoning Oathkeeper to her other hand. "Right, let's go," she remarked resolutely, "Time to go crack some heads for interrupting my beauty sleep."

Taking a quick minute to collect their belongings, the two girls nodded to Sora, who wasted no time in kicking the door open, only to be met by a mob of alien creatures, wielding guns that looked a lot like the cutlasses he remembered from Port Royal, just cresting the top of the stairs less than a metre away from their door. Kicking the lead alien in the chest, and causing the lot of them to tumble back down the flight of stairs, Sora leapt over the railing to the floor below, raining down bolts of lightning to scatter the creatures as he landed, Kairi and Namine touching down behind him seconds later.

The scuffle that followed was violent but brief, as Sora, Kairi, and Namine went to work disarming and disabling many of the alien thugs that tried to attack them. It was only when one of them shouted "Hold fire!" that the fight paused for a moment. Sora took brief stock of the situation: there were three aliens before him, including one massive four-armed creature, and one giant bug thing, as well as the one who had called the ceasefire, who seemed to have a massive canon for a right arm; Kairi and Namine had their backs to his, each keeping their eyes on the other four or so aliens still left armed and upright.

"Where's the map?" The man Sora assumed was the leader barked, kicking a nearby chest with one leg, which Sora realised was a mechanical leg, before adding, "The one that was in here."

"I can honestly tell you I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Sora replied breezily.

"Then why did you attack my men?"

Quirking an eyebrow at the man, Sora replied, "Uh, because you guys are the ones who burst in here guns blazing and set the building alight?" 'Let them think we're travelling mercenaries or something,' he mused to himself, 'We have no idea what this World is like, so it's best not to alienate people too quickly.'

"We were just worried this pirate," the man indicated the deceased turtle-man lying near the chest, "might have survived the crash and be lying in wait to ambush us. Once I saw he had died from the wounds he no doubt suffered in the crash, I ordered me men to hold their fire, but when you attacked, they had no choice but to defend themselves."

'Smooth,' Sora thought, 'Very smooth. He obviously has something of a silver tongue, or at least believes he does, the way he turned the situation around on the dead guy who can't defend himself.' "If that's the case," he continued aloud, "Then I'm sure your men won't mind lowering their weapons so we can discuss this like civilised people."

His men clearly didn't like that idea, but they did lower their weapons when he ordered them to. "Me name's John Silver," the man stated, "And perhaps we best be continuing this little talk outside. It may be rainin', but it be preferable to burnin' alive as this place goes up."

The two groups kept many a wary eye on each other as they left the burning inn, which was, unfortunately, too far along to save much, if anything; fortunately, Sora could feel no other presences inside, so the owners must have fled when the thugs attacked. "Alright Silver, talk," Sora barked, "Give me one good reason I shouldn't knock you and all your thugs out and turn you over to whatever passes for law enforcement around here."

"Treasure," Silver replied simply, before explaining, "Me men and I be seeking a treasure unlike any other, the loot of a thousand worlds. Someone else must've taken the map, which means no doubt they'll soon be lookin' for a ship an' crew ta find it. You've proven you can handle yourself in battle, and we could use a good sword-arm or three." He paused, his cybernetic right eye focusing on him as he asked, "Or do you have somethin' more important that brings you 'round these parts?"

'Pirates. Why is it always pirates?' Sora wasn't sure how much he could trust Silver, but from the description of what he was looking for, it was likely going to be the planet drawn on that piece of cloth Tia Dalma had given him. So, deciding it best to confirm this hypothesis, Sora pulled said cloth from his pocket, keeping his Keyblade in one hand and unfurling the cloth picture with the other. "We're looking for this."

A few hushed murmurs of 'Treasure Planet' came up from the assembled pirates, confirming Sora's guess, before Silver hushed them, remarking, "Then we be lookin' for the same thing. So, what say you? Care to join our modest venture?"

'They're going to betray us the first chance they get.' Normally, Sora would have taken the time to confer with the girls, but he knew this would weaken his position with the pirate. 'Still, I'd rather have the vipers where I can see them than hiding in the undergrowth waiting to strike.' "Alright Silver," Sora replied, offering his left hand, both because his right was currently holding his Keyblade, and because even if it wasn't he wouldn't entrust it to Silver's cyborg arm. "We'll work with you."

_'I hope you know what you're doing.'_Sora didn't take the time to question why he heard Namine's voice in his head; he merely thought back at her, 'I hope so too.'

o-o-o

"Vanitas, how went your mission in Port Royal?"

"My mission was successful Master," Vanitas replied from his position kneeling behind Master Xehanort; despite how quietly he entered the vast chamber his master was staring out the window of, he wasn't surprised Xehanort knew he was there. "Sora and his friends failed to acquire what they were after. They were seeking a compass belonging to that pirate Jack Sparrow, one that can apparently point the way to anything. It seems that it would not have shown them to what they sought though, according to the sea witch Tia Dalma. She gave Sora, Kairi, and Namine a new destination, and I sent the Unversed to follow them."

"And what of Riku?"

"Xurik drove Riku and the girl we have learned is named 'River' off Port Royal, and then deployed Heartless ships to harass them. He then left to follow down a lead, and hasn't reported back in since." Vanitas' words were short and sharp.

Turning from the window, Xehanort indicated Vanitas could stand, before asking, "How did your test go with Sora?"

A smile came to Vanitas' face. "Sora was able to destroy one of the Mimic Masters using only the power of the X-Blade, but in order to defeat the other two, he was able to draw directly on the power of Ventus' heart." His smile widened. "And I was able to draw power directly from both of them. I have regained much of my former strength, but there is much more left to regain."

In a tone that suggested he was asking more out of curiosity than any real need to know, Xehanort asked, "Did you manage to discover what, in fact, Sora hoped to find with that compass?"

"He is looking for Master Aqua."

That caused Xehanort to pause. "Repeat that. I don't believe I heard you correctly."

Shifting his shoulders, Vanitas repeated, "Sora has drawn the conclusion that Master Aqua is currently trapped in the Realm of Darkness, and is searching for her; more specifically, for a way to rescue her."

Xehanort burst out into peals of laughter, and it took a good few minutes before he could regain his composure. "Oh, what a fortuitous day."

Vanitas couldn't help his confusion. "Master? Why is this good? I would have thought that an experienced Keyblade Master about, especially another one that actively opposes you, would be considered a problem."

Still smiling, Xehanort remarked, "Oh, there is no doubt that she will be a problem. However, she also holds one of the Keys to my success." Schooling his face, he added, "You have new orders. You are not to halt Sora in his quest."

"But Master," Vanitas interjected quickly, "How am I to return to my full strength if I can't engage him?"

"You do what you need to regain your powers," Xehanort clarified, "That order has not changed. But while you may slow him down, you are in no way to prevent him from achieving his goal, as it is also one of _my_goals."

"Very well Master." Unfortunate that the old man was going to lean on him about this; he could've rung out all of Sora and Ven's power a lot faster if he'd been given free reign. Oh well, he would make do with what he was given. "By your leave, I'll go and prepare for when Sora resurfaces."

Xehanort absently waved Vanitas away. He wasn't blind to his once-loyal servant's duplicitous nature, but once he had the Master Keeper in hand, he would no longer need to tolerate him. 'Still,' he mused to himself, 'Maybe using the witch's heart as the catalyst wasn't the most ideal of choices. I shall remember that for next time.'

* * *

Author's Notes

I am incredibly sorry that it took me this long to get this chapter up. It would seem I got too caught up in trying (and failing) to write chapter 8 that I completely spaced on uploading chapter 7. I've actually had this chapter complete since December of last year, if you can believe that. However, when I was trying to write chapter 8, I hit a major case of writer's block. Then, a friend of mine got me into Star Wars - The Old Republic. Once I'd managed to kick that habit, Diablo 3 was released. Then, when I weaned myself off that, Igot myself a copy of Skyrim, and the list goes on. It's ironic, in a way, that acquiring a full-time job actually gave me _more_ time to write, and it wasn't until I'd more-or-less finished chapter 8 that I noticed this error.

Again, terribly sorry for the insanely long delay... I should have chapter 8 uploaded within a week or so, as I need to give it a final going over before I post it.

In other news, I was wondering for a while how I would get Sora and the girls on the search for Treasure Planet, as it would be too difficult to have them recruited in while on the space port, and while they could have fled the burning inn with the others, but Sora at least would be more likely to stand and fight unless already wounded. Then a friend of mine pointed out, 'why not have them recruited by the pirates?' So I thought, sure, why not, let's see how it goes.


	8. Oceans Apart

**"How did I let you talk me into this?"**

"If you want to move beyond what you are and become what you can be, you need to confront what you were."

Pinching the bridge of his nose as he attempted to decipher his... 'companion's' riddles, Xurik paraphrased, "So you're saying that I need to face my past if I want to move forward, right?" When the blonde figure he could only ever seem to see either in reflections or out of the corner of his eye nodded, he asked, "Wouldn't it have been simpler just to say it my way?"

"Not really, no," Roxas replied with something of a shrug.

Xurik could feel a headache coming on, as he did every time he and 'Roxas' had these conversations; which only lead further credence to the idea that this 'Roxas' was a figment of his fracturing mind. "Okay. I need to face my past. I get that. So why, exactly, are we _here_?"

"Because it was here that Riku before you confronted your shared past."

The 'here' in question was the imposing form of Castle Oblivion. "So you're telling me that in order to separate myself from Riku, I need to do the EXACT SAME THING he did?!"

"Of course not." Despite his tone remaining calm and emotionless, Xurik could tell that Roxas was now speaking as though to a particularly dim-witted child. "What you seek to learn from your past will differ from what Riku sought. Ergo, while much of the path may be similar, the final destination will not."

Rubbing his temples with one hand as he worked to decode Roxas' overly cryptic remarks, Xurik asked, "Okay, I get how the 'final destination' will be different, but how can the 'path' be different? I mean, the path is my, I mean, _Riku's_, life? How am I not doing the same as him?"

"Because the path is _not_ your shared life; that is the subject. The path is the events of your life you need to relive in order to resolve your current dilemma." Anticipating Xurik's next question, Roxas continued, "Riku sought redemption, a way to return to the life and friends he had cast away, and thus, his path was shaped to this end. You, however, seek to separate yourself from Riku, and so, your path will show you the way."

Resigned to his fate, and hoping to cut off any further lecture, Xurik remarked, "So where do I go to get this thing started then? This place looks huge."

"Riku started in the twelfth basement level," Roxas supplied, "Though your best bet would be to find Zexion's room first. He was the one overseeing Riku's trials in the hopes of controlling him, so he would have notes that may be useful to you."

Sighing, Xurik strode towards the imposing castle, pausing with his hands against the massive iron doors and commenting mostly to himself, "Why am I doing this again?"

Despite the rhetorical nature of the question, Roxas answered him regardless. "Because there can only be one Riku. If you do not, then sooner or later, one of you will be forced to destroy the other, so if you wish to survive, you must find your way to becoming someone new."

"Right. Because I'm slowly going crazy. That's what I thought." Pushing open the massive doors with surprising ease, Xurik strode into the white-washed room beyond, to begin his most difficult task yet: to redefine himself.

* * *

- Shades of Grey -  
- Dance of Light and Shadow -

Chapter 08 - Oceans Apart

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

* * *

Humming a jaunty tune to herself, River watched the vast ocean passing them by, swinging her legs through the ship's railing as she supported herself atop it. In all honestly, she wasn't sure how many days they'd been at sea now for; the last however-many days had been something of a blur to her. When she'd regained her senses this morning, she'd initially been justifiably afraid that she was regressing back to how she was before Kairi and Namine had fixed her, but Riku had managed to calm her down.

He'd explained, after many, many minutes of trying to get her to relax, that she'd just been experiencing her first 'Battle High'. The life or death battle, first aboard the _Black Pearl_, then in the Lanes Between, coupled with the massive amount of mana she's used hurling fire and lightning at the pursuing Heartless, had flooded her system with adrenaline. In fact, her system was so flooded that, when she was finally able to relax, which wasn't until they were safely on this ship, she had skipped straight past both fatigue and exhaustion into the fugue-state she'd spend the last few days in.

They'd had something of a disagreement after that, with her arguing that, with her history of mental illness, he should have warned her something like this could happen so she could've prepared for it, and him reasoning that she was never in any danger, and that even if he had told her, almost no amount of preparation would've helped her once it happened, so she should be glad it happened while they were safe from further danger.

In the end, she'd stormed out of the cabin, needing some fresh air, which had lead to her current situation. Glancing around the huge ship they were on, River couldn't help thinking to herself that when Preston Whitmore had said everything had been arranged, he wasn't kidding; from what she remembered, the boat had set sail within minutes of their group having stepped aboard. It amused her that the last thing she clearly remembered before her 'Battle High' was starting this voyage, and if the thought noise she was picking up was right, the first clear thing after was going to be the end of the voyage; or, at least, this leg of it.

As if the thought were the signal, a dry voice announced over the loudspeaker, "Attention. All hands to the launch bay. To whoever took the 'l' from the Motor Pool sign, ha ha, we are all very amused."

Not knowing exactly where the launch bay was, River just opened herself to the sea of minds around her, letting her body run on autopilot as she followed the currents of their thoughts. Even before her mind had been shattered, River honestly couldn't remember when she'd first noticed that she was able to read the minds of those around her, let alone when she had started doing it subconsciously. All she remembered was being overwhelmed when she left the house, her mind unable to handle the inundation of the thoughts of every mind around her.

It had taken her a little while to learn to filter the toxic wasteland of human thought down to a dull roar in a corner of her mind, much like a normal person would filter out the conversations around them in a crowded marketplace. It had taken her a while longer to learn to read the thoughts of specific people, which had logically lead into reading memories. Over the years, reading thoughts had become as automatic to her as breathing, which, combined with an already genius intellect, made her a prodigy second to almost none.

Of course, it had also lead to her becoming a target of the Black Sun Corporation, but that was neither here nor there now.

She was broken out of her thoughts when she ran into something, stumbling back a few steps, but otherwise managing to stay on her feet. Looking up, she saw she'd run into a fairly tall, solidly-built man, with a square jaw, and greying hair. Startled, she took a few steps further back, having never run into anyone in her life before when she'd been connected to the ambient thoughts around her. Glancing down at her, and stopping her in her tracks, the man asked sternly, "And what are you doing here young lady? I don't remember seeing you on the crew roster for this leg of the trip."

Instinctively, River focused her mind towards him, a habit she had gotten into from a young age when meeting knew people, her eyes widened when she realized she could pick up nothing from him, save for the question about who she was and why she was here. She had never, as far back as she could remember, encountered a mind this guarded before, and it momentarily stunned her into silence.

Fortunately, she was saved from answering when a familiar hand was placed on her shoulder, a voice calling from behind her, "We're Milo Thatch's assistants. Mister Whitmore brought us on board at the last minute, when he realized Milo would need some help, so there wasn't enough time to modify the crew roster. I'm Riku, and this is River."

"So, you are the ones Mister Whitmore told me about huh? Can't say I expected children." Pausing to look around the loading bay, he pointed his head in the direction of Whitmore, dressed in a blue and gold jacket, and added, "Very well then, come with me. We'll see how your story checks out."

o-o-o

Almost from the word go, Kairi had regretted Sora's choice to team up with Silver and his band of pirates. Not only were there more than twenty pirates, including one that looked like he could easily break one of them in half with enough arms to hold off the other two at the same time, against just the three of them, but in the half-week since they had joined forces, the three of them hadn't had much time to themselves; Silver didn't trust them, and the feeling was very much mutual.

Silver, it turned out, was just as silver-tongued as Sora had guessed. It hadn't taken much hunting or negotiating for the pirate captain to find out that the day after the Benbow Inn burned down, a man by the name of 'Doctor Doppler' was looking to hire a ship and a crew for a voyage; Silver, much like Sora, was not much of a believer in coincidences. Then, just as easy as that, he had gotten them all hired to crew the ship, with Silver himself acting as cook, and the rest of them general deck hands.

The worst part about all of this though was that none of them were able to let their guard down for a minute. For Sora, that meant he had to act the hard, tough-as-nails mercenary at all times, which meant he had to lock his light away some place safe and let his darkness speak. For Namine, that meant she had to use a good amount of her strength every day keeping Sora's light from flickering out, strengthening it with some of Kairi's when needed. For Kairi herself, however, it meant she needed to spend much of her mana every day erecting wards to keep the darkness around them from eroding her heart.

Some of the pirates were so steeped in darkness, it was a wonder they hadn't succumb and become a Heartless yet. Ironically, of all of the pirates, it was Silver himself who had the least Darkness, his main sin being greed. The others, however... If her wards slipped for even a moment, she was inundated. The last time she had felt darkness of this magnitude and concentration was during the massive battle on Radiant Garden, and she remembered how that would have turned out if not for Cloud and the others.

There was one shining light in all of these events. Namine had discovered that she could 'connect' her heart to both Sora and Kairi, allowing the three of them to not only share emotions, but also allowing them to converse via their hearts, as Kairi and Namine once could, and still did on the occasions they shared the one body. Ever since she had discovered that, Namine had kept the three of them connected at all times she was awake, bar those few occasions Sora had requested the girls disconnect for their own good when he had to meet with Silver. She claimed this was so she could better maintain Sora's heart, but Kairi knew it was so the three of them could still share their love for each other whilst wearing their facades, and she appreciated her sister's efforts.

Now, here they were three days later, working with the rest of the crew to load the supplies on the RLS Legacy, and the situation seemed like it would only marginally improve. Sora had shared with the girls that he knew, as point of fact, that Silver and his crew - especially his crew - were just waiting for the right time to betray them. He'd said it felt unlikely that Silver would break cover before reaching Treasure Planet, unwilling to risk his chance at the fortune of a lifetime, but that it was unlikely that his crew would be able to contain themselves that long, not without Silver riding herd on them at all times.

This meant that they couldn't afford to all be asleep at the same time. Unfortunately, neither of the girls were really strong enough, magically or otherwise, to take a watch all on their own, which meant that Sora had to stay awake while they slept, and he would take his turn while they stood watch, at least until they could work out some way to keep all three of them safe while they all rested.

Kairi sighed. It was going to be a difficult few weeks.

Kairi paused in her work when she saw the imposing form of Arrow, the ship's first mate, approaching Sora; the three of them were doing their best to stay within sight of each other at all times, work or no work. The two of them shared words for a moment, Arrows eyes flickering in her and Namine's direction after something Sora said, before he waved them over. When the two girls approached, Sora stated simply, "The captain wants to speak with us in her cabin."

Kairi could tell there was more to this than Sora was saying out loud, and not just due to what she was feeling over the connection to his heart. With a nod, the three of them followed Arrow towards the stern of the ship.

o-o-o

"You've lost them _again_?"

Vanitas grit his teeth behind the face mask of his helmet. Why was it that whenever he needed to give his master bad news, that smug git Seymour was always nearby? Oh how he longed for the day when the mage had outlived his usefulness, and Master Xehanort gave him the order to destroy the man. "I have managed to track down the gate they used, but it is unlike any other I have encountered thus far. Neither the Heartless nor the Nobodies were able to pass through it, and, unlike the hidden world Sora retreated to before, they are also unable to track his position beyond the gate. As far as all are concerned, when he and the girls passed through that gate, they ceased to be."

Before Seymour could comment, Xehanort remarked, "Then it would seem that Sora is no longer within the Realm of Light, but neither has he passed through into the Realm of Darkness. If the Heartless cannot reach him, he must have found a way into one of the hidden realms that dwell between the two."

A thoughtful look on his face, Seymour commented, "I have heard little of these hidden realms. I thought that the only Realm between that of Light and that of Darkness was the Realm Between, in which we now dwell."

"The Realm Between is just that: it is the point at which the Realms of Light and Darkness intersect. The hidden realms, however, are both connected, and yet, apart, both from each other and from those of Light and Darkness. I know only of two such realms myself, and little about them, bar that they go by different names: the Realm of Sleep, known to some as the Astral Plane, is a transient realm where all things go to be born, or re-born; and the Realm of Space, also known as the Ethereal Plane, is a realm similar in many ways to the Sea of Skies, save that it connects to all worlds, though some show a mere reflection of what they could be if their hearts are closed. If Sora has traveled to one of these, the latter is more likely; the Realm of Sleep is notoriously hard to reach."

"So you're saying that Sora could resurface literally anywhere, and we have no way of tracking hm until he does?" Vanitas asked. "Unacceptable. How am I ever to regain my full strength if I can't engage Sora?"

"Patience Vanitas, all in good time," Xehanort replied, turning to Seymour and questioning, "So, how goes your little project?"

"Progress is slow, but it is still progress," Seymour replied, "The mouse king is resisting the treatment, more so since I forced him to fight his friends, but he will succumb eventually; everyone always does."

"How could you not have darkened his heart by now?" Vanitas asked snidely.

Ever-cool, Seymour answered smoothly, "If our only goal was to recruit a new soldier, I could have had his treatment finished within hours by flooding his heart with darkness. Unfortunately, with the ward he placed around Disney Castle, he is our only key to gaining the four Princesses of Heart trapped within, and if his heart was completely darkened, he would no longer be able to pass through his own barrier. Thus, while we need him converted into working for us, I must work slowly so as to not corrupt his heart beyond use to us."

"Enough. I tire of your ceaseless bickering," Xehanort barked, adding to Seymour, "I have need of your ally. Some information which is crucial for my work has been lost to me. The only copy remaining is in the DTD, but with the MCP no longer in control, my access has been revoked. However, there is always a workaround. And this is what I need him to acquire."

"Then I shall send him immediately."

o-o-o

"You wished to speak to me captain?"

Looking up from her charts, Captain Amelia remarked, "Ah yes, Mister Sora. I had wished to speak to you personally without your paramours, but now that I get a closer look at them, what I have to say to you likely applies to them as well, so no matter. First though, do take a seat. Tea? Coffee?"

Sora felt his hand twitch for a moment when the captain said the word 'paramour', but sensing no malice behind her words, he realized she meant it simply as another word for 'beloved', so he let it slide. Seeing the girls to a chair first, he took a seat between them, before replying for the three of them, "Tea, please, captain."

Waiting for a moment as the imposing form of Mister Arrow brought out the tea tray and dispensed the appropriate drinks, taking coffee herself, Captain Amelia stated, "You three are different from the rest of his crew. They are, to a one, a ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots, and yet you three are not. One wonders what a trio such as yourself would be doing traveling with such a rough bunch."

"I didn't here a question in there captain," Sora commented, abstaining from his own drink for the moment.

Smiling slightly around her cup, Captain Amelia continued, "You know, the three of you remind me of a man I met a good many years ago. Charming fellow." Pausing for a moment in thought, she asked, "What was his name again Arrow?"

"Ansem, ma'am," her First Mate replied. Sora felt his back stiffen slightly at the name, and could see both Kairi and Namine almost choke on their drinks out of the corner of his eyes.

"That's the one, yes." Noticing their reactions, she added, "Ah, I see you know the name then. Met him yourself then I take it?"

"I've met two men by that name captain," Sora replied carefully, "One with silver hair, and one with blonde. Which one was it you met?"

"The second one." Sora felt himself breathe a sigh of relief. "I do remember seeing a man there with silver hair, but not one named Ansem. An unsettling fellow as I recall, but I digress. My point is, as you remind me so much of this man, I thought to myself, perhaps you come from the same place he did. Thus, my question is, are the three of you from Radiant Garden?"

"I was born there captain," Kairi replied, finding no problem in making her announcement with the captain having named her birth-world; after all, if Captain Amelia knew enough to actually know Radiant Garden by name, it couldn't hurt to confirm her suspicions.

"How much do you know about Radiant Garden ma'am?" Namine asked curiously.

"Enough to know that it's a completely separate World from this one, very different from the planets scattered about the Etherium, and yet, somehow, I was able to reach that World from the Etherium without ever having passed through something they called the Sea of Skies." Shrugging slightly, Captain Amelia added, "I don't rightly know how - didn't understand much of the jargon - but from what I could gather, this World seems to span the entire Sea of Skies instead of being one solid clump of content in an otherwise empty void. However, only rarely can someone slip out of this World and right into another; most of the time other Worlds don't show up as Worlds in the Etherium, but as stars. They seemed as surprised to see me as I was them."

"Most people are surprised to find there are Worlds beyond their own," Sora commented.

Taking another sip of her coffee, Captain Amelia added, "Which brings me to my next point. Judging by what I've seen of you so far, you all seem to be good kids, and you're obviously not from this world, so how did you fall in with this crew?"

With a sort of helpless shrug, Sora remarked, "They were going the same way we were, and I trust them just enough to know they'll cause trouble for me if I don't keep my eyes on them, so it seemed easier to just work with them instead of having them actively working against us."

"True enough," the captain nodded, "So, more importantly, what can I expect from them for this journey?"

"Silver's unlikely to cause much trouble, at least until we reach our destination," Sora replied, "He's not going to want anything risking arrival. However, Scroop will be a problem if he's not watched. I can already tell he's just waiting for Silver to slip up before taking over and doing things what he considers the 'right way'."

"Whatever happens though, once we get to where we're going, there's little doubt that they'll all be trouble," Namine stated softly.

One hand on her chin in thought, Captain Amelia mused, "Hmm, not much I didn't already suspect. I know you'll likely have more you could tell me, but can't risk letting it be known you did. I'll not hold it against you." Her eyes lighting up as an idea occurred to her, she added, "In fact, I may even have an idea that could help you. You have much experience on a ship?"

Smiling slightly, Sora replied, "I come from a World made up mostly of water, and I've done two stints on a galleon, and one on a brig. I will admit that on all three occasions, the boat was captained by a pirate, but I've never actually done any pirating myself. In any case, I don't imagine an Etherium ship would handle much differently."

"Good enough for me," Captain Amelia stated firmly, "I've been looking to replace my Second Mate ever since he decided he'd had enough of this life after a recent scuffle with the Procyon Armada. The position does come with its own cabin; the three of you will have to share, but I don't imagine you're too worried about sharing an enclosed space with each other."

Sharing a look with his ladies, and a quick word through their new link, Sora nodded his head, replying, "Your terms are acceptable captain."

o-o-o

"Seven hours ago we started this expedition with two hundred of the finest men and women I've ever known. We're all that's left. I won't sugar-coat it, gentlemen - we've got a crisis on our hands. But we've been up this particular creek before and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no reason to change that policy now. From here on in, everyone pulls double duty. Everyone drives, everyone works."

Watching Commander Rourke bark out orders and get what remained of his men organized, Riku couldn't help but think that today had not been the best of days, and that didn't appear to be changing any time soon. First, he and River had gotten into a fight this morning, over an issue that he couldn't have changed even if he had told her everything up front, and she was still giving him a bit of the cold shoulder over that. He'd also tried contacting Sora and the girls with the inter-World comm device Mickey had given him a long time ago, but the only reply he got was a 'destination unreachable' signal. The only reasons he could think of for that would be either they were in a world that blocked the signal, or they weren't in the Realm of Light at the moment. Hoping it was the former, and knowing that there were few good reasons it could be the latter, he resolved to try again in a few days.

After that little fiasco, he'd met the team that would be assisting Milo in his quest to find Atlantis, and come to the conclusion that with a small handful of exceptions, the lot of them were all a bunch of ruthless mercenaries who cared nothing for the history they'd soon be disturbing. He had the feeling that they would betray Milo and his cause in a heartbeat if it would mean a quick buck, so he knew he'd have to keep an eye on them; as if he didn't have enough to worry about as it was. Then, they'd all climbed into this big metal container they called a 'submarine', which had gone under the water, and within a matter of hours had been attacked and destroyed by a giant metal lobster, leaving only a handful of 'sub-pods' and their escape craft, plus the supplies and machines contained within the latter.

Which led to right now. At least two thirds of Rourke's team had been lost, and Riku couldn't say he'd grieve over them much. What did worry him was that they were now trapped in a massive cave who knew how many leagues under the water, with the only known way out guarded by something that would destroy them before they could hope to even see the daylight streaming through the water. And to make his life more difficult, he could tell that River hadn't dealt with the trip here too well, but he wasn't sure whether he should try and comfort her given their fight earlier. In the end, he decided it would be safer to see if she was okay now and have her get angry over it then to let it drop, walking over to her and asking quietly, "Are you okay? You got shaken about a lot on the trip down here."

Shaking her head slightly, River replied, "It's not that. When that thing attacked, I could hear the minds of the men on that boat suddenly... ending. It's... the first time I can remember ever feeling someone die. I just... I don't..."

Without thinking about it, Riku drew the girl into his arms, remarking softly, "It'll be okay."

"Isn't this cute?" Rourke's voice interrupted, the man barking, "Enough standing around you two. We've got equipment to move, and I don't imagine either of you are qualified to drive a truck."

"I can," River replied curtly, her mind already pulling the means to do just that from the minds around her.

Rourke's voice was still a touch patronizing as he added, "Well good, seems you might actually be able to assist Mister Thatch after all."

"Don't worry," Riku stated dryly, "We've been well informed on what our job is. Mister Whitmore is nothing if he's not thorough."

"Then you'd best get to it," Rourke ordered, "We don't have enough men left for you two to be standing around like statues."

Doing his best not to glare at the man, Riku did as ordered and helped load up the remaining trucks with the remaining equipment. 'There's just something about that man that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,' Riku mused to himself, 'I just wish I knew what and why.'

o-o-o

"So, what was it our good captain wanted to speak to you about?"

"Nothing that should concern _you_ Silver," Sora drawled, leaning casually against the wall as if the semi-circle of pirates surrounding Sora and the girls didn't worry him. "If you must know, the captain thought she recognized us. She met a man about a decade ago that apparently reminded her of us, so she wanted to know if one or more of us was related to him. We're not, so you know, but we did meet the man a couple years back, so we were reminiscing about him."

"And that be everything ya discussed?"

Rolling his eyes, Sora adding, "She also wanted to hear more about my past sailing experiences, and apparently she was impressed enough to offer me the job of Second Mate, which as far as I'm concerned is good news for us all, because it keeps me out of your business, and keeps you out of mine. So long as you and your lot play your part, this trip will go smoothly."

"So she mentioned nothing about us then?"

"She said she didn't like most of you," Sora replied with a touch of forced humour, "But I don't imagine that's news to you. Now are you done with this interrogation? We need to move our gear to our cabin, and I have to meet with the captain again once e get settled in."

Scowling slightly, the cyborg waved his hand, "Run along then boy. Best not keep the _captain_ waiting. But you keep yer yap shut, or else-"

"You don't scare me Silver," Sora cut him off, "But I'll not rock the boat if you don't." With nothing more to say, Sora directed the girls to leave first, following closely behind them. Once they were safely in their new cabin and thus out of earshot of the others, Sora breathed a sigh of relief, muttering, "That went about as well as expected."

"At least we have a bit of privacy now," Namine remarked softly, as the three of them worked to unpack their belongings somewhat.

As simply to spite her words, one of the candle holders on the small table lifted up, revealing itself to be Silver's pet shapeshifter Morph, which giggled slightly before dashing about the room, snatching up an item out of Kairi's open backpack before they could stop it; Kairi noticed with great annoyance that it had grabbed the thalassa shell charm she'd sound in Roxas' room. Growling "Give that back you little thief!" she began to chase it around the room.

Sora, however, decided to take an easier approach, aiming one hand at it and casting. "Blizzard." With a gust of arctic wind, the floating blob was encased in a thin layer of ice, allowing Sora to reach up and snatch the shell out of its mouth. Once his hand closed over it, however, he was briefly overcome by a wave of vertigo, the room spinning around him, as, for the briefest of moments, he saw a third girl, standing between Kairi and Namine. One with short cut black hair. "What... Who was that?"

"You saw her too?" Kairi asked, leaning against the table to steady herself, "The girl in the black coat?"

"I think... I think I know her from somewhere," Sora replied slowly, "But I can't remember who she is."

"Xion." Namine's quiet voice almost seemed to echo around the small cabin. "Her name is Xion."

o-o-o

Sifting through folder upon folder of files, Roxas sighed to himself; while the information contained within would have been interesting under different circumstances, none of it helped him with his current problem. Still, the fact he could sift through files at _all_ was an improvement, if only he could work out _why_.

In all honesty, Roxas wasn't sure what he was. He could think separately from Xurik, proven by the fact that he and Xurik regularly engaged in discussions and arguments, and they both had different opinions and memories. But, that could just be that Xurik had developed multiple personality disorder, and he was simply a sign of Xurik's increasing mental instability. At least, that had been a good theory until they had arrived here.

While they were at the Castle That Never Was, Roxas was bound wholly and solely to Xurik; he went where Xurik did, slept when Xurik slept, and had no real physical form to call his own, being little more than a voice. Over time, he had manifested something of an image, only visible when Xurik looked into a mirror, then, visible out of the corner of his eyes. Once they had come to Castle Oblivion, however, he had almost felt himself gaining substance.

Case in point, Roxas was able to rifle through the files in Zexion's room while Xurik was undergoing his trial of self-exploration. He had discovered, earlier on in his study, that while he could affect the world around him, he could only do so when not observed. Even more annoyingly, if Xurik observed the location after he had changed it, it returned to how it was the last time Xurik had seen it; this had caused Roxas much aggravation, forcing him to search through folders multiple times for the files he sought.

Roxas still couldn't explain why, but he knew it was something about this place. The closest theory he had was that, as Castle Oblivion was used to study and take apart memories, even giving them physical form, that he, as a sort of living memory, was in turn granted form. However, he seemed to exist as something more of a dream, being that while he could change things, they would always return to as the dreamer remembered them when observed again.

Still, whatever substance he was gaining from spending time in Castle Oblivion, he could feel himself slowly gaining more of it the more time he spent here.

His train of thought was derailed by a sudden rush of what could only be euphoria, as the name he knew he should know suddenly came to his lips. "Xion..." A smile came to Roxas' face, as he could now place not only a name, but a face to Number Fourteen. He could picture her now, her short black hair framing her face, black coat draped around her, with the Kingdom Key held in hand.

Dropping the files he held in his haste, Roxas hurried over to 'his' journal, sitting on a table nearby; he'd convinced Xurik to bring it along when they had left the Castle That Never Was to come here, and now he was glad he had. Flipping through the pages, he saw that, where once there had been a blank space, there now existed the word 'Xion'. The fact that the book had changed proved to Roxas that something had been suppressing knowledge of her, and that same something, or perhaps a different something, had just released that knowledge.

With new purpose, Roxas strode out of Zexion's room. If the knowledge he sought was in this castle, it would be in Vexen's room. Roxas vowed that he would find the truth about Xion, and maybe even himself in the process.

* * *

Author's Notes

This chapter just took FOREVER to write...

In other news, the 'Sea of Skies' is, according to my sources, the proper name for the area between worlds that Gummi ships and Keyblade Gliders travel through, whereas 'The Lanes Between' is the name given to roads/pathways through the Sea of Skies along which Keyblade Gliders tend to travel. Dark Corridors also pass through the Sea of Skies by tunneling a hole straight through the darkness instead of 'taking the long way around', so to speak.


	9. Treasures of the Past

**"For the appetiser, Caesar salad, escargot, and yer Oriental spring rolls."**

Staring at the disgusting, nondescript slop sitting on the tray in front of him, Riku sighed to himself when he realised that this couldn't even be considered the capstone of what had been a painful and mind-numbing week or so (it really was hard to tell exactly how long they'd been here without any visible passage of night and day). The food, if such a term could actually be applied to the slop served, was worse than terrible; the journey was intensely boring, without even the slightest bit of combat to break up the monotony; and with River otherwise occupied, the company was incredibly lacking.

He found his eyes trailing over to where the girl in question sat, hunched over the Shepherd's Journal with Milo. When it became clear that River's time would best be served helping Milo translate, she had given him a brief run down on how to pilot - drive, River had corrected him - one of these 'trucks' they used to get around, one which fortunately it had only taken him a few minutes to pick up after having watched her in action. From then, the two of them had barely spoken a word to each other, with River spending almost all of her time away helping Milo, leaving Riku to drive the truck, and to take care of any miscellaneous duties Milo needed done.

To make his life more annoying, he'd still not heard a word from Sora, Kairi, or Namine. At least twice a day, when they broke camp and then they made camp, Riku had tried to get in contact with Sora using his communicator, but so far, it was just like that first try: signal unreachable. It had long gone past the point where Riku began to worry that something had happened to them, and he spent much of his free time during the day pondering all of the problems they could have run into; considering the bulk of his day was spent keeping a truck going in a straight line, he had more free time than he needed.

Sighing again, and casting another glance in River's direction, Riku was forced to admit what the problem really was: he was lonely. It was strange; for over a year and a half, Riku had been perfectly fine doing his own thing, going at his own pace. Sure, during that time he was doing work for Maleficent, DiZ, and Mickey, but he was still left mostly to his own devices, and indeed spent more time alone during that year and a half than ever before in his life. And yet, having spent less than two weeks in River's company (not including this past week-or-so of relative isolation), he found he missed her company.

What were they, exactly? Riku knew that, as his Keyblade had been the one she had held to unlock her own ability, that until he chose another, he was her teacher (he disliked the term 'master'), and she his apprentice. And yet, when her brother had brought her out of chemical-induced sleep after Namine had repaired her damaged mind, she had 'called' him. What did that mean? Were they together? If so, why hadn't she said or done anything since then? He could honestly say he didn't know.

As the others around the camp fire called Milo and River over to dine with them, Riku pushed the thoughts aside, with one promise: that before this journey was over, he would get answers to his questions.

* * *

- Shades of Grey -

- Dance of Light and Shadow -

Chapter 09 - Treasures of the Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

* * *

"So, Riku has been found then has he?"

"Yes Master," Vanitas nodded, still kneeling behind Xehanort as the man gazed out the window at Kingdom Hearts. "Using the communications device we found among the prisoner's possessions, tied in to the Castle's computer system, I was able to locate a signal from the one Riku has. Based on the frequency of outgoing signals, it would appear that Riku is trying to make contact with another party, assumedly Sora, though has been unable to reach him, lending credence to the theory that he is not in this Realm any longer. I was, however, able to trace back Riku's signal."

"And where is the witch's wayward charge?"

"He is currently on a World known as Atlantis," Vanitas responded, before asking, "Should I dispatch the Heartless? His loss would weaken Sora's position, and likely force his hand into doing something irrational. And we don't yet know what this new wielder is capable of."

"You have made your thoughts on this subject quite clear already." Xehanort replied sharply, giving the issue a moment of thought before adding, "Though the loss of Hades is regrettable, we are fortunate that he managed to leave behind such a massive force before Sora dispatched him. You may send a brigade of Heartless, chosen at your discretion."

Pressing one hand over his heart, Vanitas stood, stating, "Yes Master, I shall lead them personally," before starting to stride off.

He was pulled up short when Xehanort remarked, "No Vanitas, I have more important work for you to do that chase a secondary objective. You are far too valuable for that."

"But Master," Vanitas tried to explain, "loathe though I am to admit it, Riku alone has enough strength and ability to destroy at least half a brigade of leaderless Heartless, and-"

Smiling slightly, though he still faced the window, Xehanort cut him off with, "We are fortunate, then, that I already have an operative on that world."

"You do?" Vanitas couldn't keep the surprise from his voice. "I was not aware you had operatives beyond those here in the Castle."

"Because you did not need to," Xehanort stated, adding, "I have sleeper agents scattered across the Worlds, each with their own tasks, that I can return to my service at any time. Go, send the Heartless; I shall ensure he is waiting for their arrival."

o-o-o

There were a number of things that frightened River Tam. Having grown up during the Unification War, like many children of the Core worlds she was brought up with the fear that a Browncoat ship could come to attack their home in order to drive the 'benevolent' Alliance away; having spent a good bit of time around a pair of veterans from that war, she was fairly certain that theory was bogus and only created to keep the people supporting the war, but the fear of attack never really went away.

Blue gloves were another big fear of hers, for reasons her mind did its best not to think about. Having spent many months bouncing around space, River had learned two new fears along the way: Reavers, a nightmare she had discovered was not the fairy tale that the Alliance government would have its people believe; and possibly the most primal fear of all, fire. One quickly learns to both fear and respect fire when an out-of-control blaze begins rapidly consuming all of the oxygen in the metal can you're using to fly through the void of nothingness, as she had come to learn when one such blaze erupted through /Serenity/ during her brother's birthday.

As such, waking up to find her tent on fire, as well as much of the rest of the camp, while surrounded by the thoughts, feelings, and screaming of frantic people fearing they'd been attacked, was for River like waking up into her own personal Hell; if not for Riku dragging he out of the blazing canvas, she likely would have remained there, frozen in terror until she burned to death.

"Come on, we need to get out of here!" Her companion's voice, coupled with his hand grabbing her wrist, snapped her out of her daze. Quickly grabbing her pack, River forced herself to keep up as Riku began sprinting towards the convoy of fleeing vehicles, abandoning the camp to the fire and the bugs that lit it. In a surprising show of strength, even with what she knew of him, Riku actually managed to launch her into the back of a moving truck, before leaping up into it himself.

Huddling against the canvas top, River did her best to shut out the minds of those around her, but it felt like holding her breath; no matter what she did, sooner or later she would have to open her mind again, and she knew what she'd feel would be bad. Again it was Riku's voice that managed to bring her back from the brink, as he crouched down next to her and stated firmly, "Don't worry River, I'll keep you safe. Just focus on me, forget about the others for now and concentrate on me." Trusting him, she opened herself slightly, focusing only on him as he requested, and felt his steadfast surety that everything would be fine.

That determination didn't even waver when the fire bug hive crashed down onto the stone bridge, sending the convoy toppling into the crevice below; all that did change was that Riku reached up, grabbed the ribs of the truck canopy, and used his body to hold her against the side.

With an almighty crash, the sliding trucks came to a halt, plunging them into darkness as the engines and lights clicked off. With the brief sound of a match striking, and the tiniest lick of flame, Rourke's voice called out, "All right, who's not dead? Sound off."

A series of moans and groans answered him, the match going out just as Cookie remarked, "Danged lightnin' bugs done bit me on my sit-upon. Somebody's gonna have to suck out that poison. Now don't everybody jump up at once."

As the crew began to pick up the pieces, working out what they had left and where they had it, River felt her focus drifting away slightly. 'There's something out there...' While she was never really able to put it into words, she knew she was prone to the occasional insight she shouldn't have, such as she did when Jubal Early snuck aboard the /Serenity/, and such as she was having right now. She didn't feel any real hostile intent though, more curiosity than anything.

It was at about that time she tuned back in to the conversations around her, specifically the voice of Rourke asking where Milo was, and suddenly she knew just what their mystery guests were curious about.

o-o-o

Namine ran her fingers through Sora's hair, humming softly to herself as she did so. She couldn't put a name to the song, only that it was something from Sora's childhood; amusingly, Namine probably knew more about his childhood than he did. Lying with him on their shared bunk was doing much to settle her nerves, which had been quite rattled in the past half-hour or so; Kairi, meanwhile, was performing Sora's job while he rested and recovered his strength. It was frightening, she realised, just how quickly a situation could go from normal, to life-threatening.

The trip thus far had been remarkably uneventful, considering that over ninety percent of the crew were pirates. Silver had amused himself making the cabin boy, Hawkins if she remembered correctly, run all manner of mundane (and sometimes inane) tasks, until the boy was run so ragged she'd honestly be impressed if he could remember his own name. The rest of the crew, under the watchful eye of Mister Arrow, all kept their noses clean, though Namine honestly didn't know just how much time had passed since the journey began; the wrist computer she's swiped from Sora said that it was roughly a week and a half, but judging by how many nights they'd had on the ship, subjective as the word 'night' might be in space, she estimated it to be about double that. Despite all that time, however, they hadn't had a chance to do much training, except for using White Magic, which they could practice from the safety of their cabin of an evening, and while Namine was a better study of White Magic than Black, Kairi was a better White Mage now than Sora, though she'd yet to reach the pinnacle of White Magic and cast Holy.

Still, the journey had been remarkably uneventful, until today at least, when the ship had been rocked by a nearby star exploding, before collapsing into a black hole. In a flurry of activity, they'd had to climb the masts and stow the sails, and in the midst of climbing back down again, climb back up and unfurl them again. In the end, the ship had managed to break free of the gravity well and escape the black hole, though it was closer than anyone liked to think about.

It was in the celebrations after, however, that it became clear they had not gotten away as free as they thought; Mister Arrow had gone overboard, his lifeline broken. A brief flash of fear had gripped both Namine and Kairi's hearts when Sora likewise didn't answer his name when it was first called, but it faded quickly when they realised together that they could still feel him, and sure enough, his exhausted form had appeared moments later; from what he'd said, he had tried to save Arrow, but in doing so his own lifeline had broken, so he'd needed to hold on to the ship to avoid getting pulled off. It explained why Kairi had felt magic going off towards the end - Sora had used a spell of some description, likely Gravity, to fasten himself to the ship, but in doing so had burnt through most of his energy.

Something about that didn't feel right to her, though, so she was spending her time with Sora combing through his memories, trying to find out why he was so weak recently. While she was at it, she decided to see the previous excitement through his eyes and see if she could find anything he hadn't noticed; whenever she relived Sora's memories, she never found herself looking through Sora's eyes, instead always finding herself as an observer, as if she was watching them happen.

With a slight sign at having to give up this peaceful time, she traced his most recent memories to the point of interest, and dove in.

o-o

"All sails secured captain!"

Sora breathed a sigh of relief, resting against the mast while a few other members of Silver's crew climbed back down to the deck. That relief was short lived when he heard Captain Amelia reply, "Good man! Now, release them immediately!"

Shaking his head as he heard Mister Arrow relaying the captain's orders, Sora returned to the line he'd just finished tying, putting the chatter of the crew out of his mind as he worked to unfurl the sails again. He'd just finished tying the sail open again when the ship was rocked by a violent wave, and it was only due to the nearby sail that he was able to maintain his balance. Spotting movement in the corner of his eye, Sora glanced over to see that Arrow had fallen overboard, though his lifeline held, and the First Mate began climbing back towards the ship.

There was a flash of red in the edge of his vision, and he saw a look of horror come across Arrow's face before his lifeline broke, the still-forming black hole quickly starting to drag him away. Without thinking, Sora leapt after him, wrapping one arm around his own lifeline, and grabbing Arrow's with the other. Straining to hold the line, he shouted, "Arrow! Climb!"

As he struggled to climb against the pull of the gravity well, Sora could barely hear Arrow's voice calling out, "Your lifeline isn't rated to hold this much weight! Release me or you'll be lost too!"

Hearing a sound behind him that reminded him much of a tree starting to topple as a strand of his lifeline snapped, he realised Arrow was right, but he wasn't going to let a good man suffer that fate. Releasing his own lifeline, Sora decided that saving Arrow was more important than maintaining cover, so with his free hand he summoned his Keyblade, tossing it behind him so as to summon his Glider, which flew beneath him with a simple mental command. Now mounted, Sora used both hands to hold on to Arrow's line, as he urged his Glider to move backwards towards the ship, inch by torturous inch.

Pausing in his climb, Sora noticed Arrow seem to come to some decision, before stating, "Even with your craft, the strain on your lifeline is too great. While your line holds, you gain some measure of safety from the ship's artificial gravity drive, but if it breaks, you'll be caught in the tow just as I am. You must get back to the ship!"

Gritting his teeth, Sora replied, "I'm not letting you go!"

"I know," the older spacer replied, "So I'll make that choice for you." Releasing his lifeline with one hand, Arrow reached back to draw out his knife.

"Don't do it Arrow!" Despite edging closer to the ship, Sora could hear another strand or two of his lifeline break.

A smile on his stony face, Arrow remarked, "Take care of the captain for me," before cutting the rope, and letting go.

"No!" Sora couldn't help the horror he felt well up in his heart as he saw Arrow dragged into the black hole, but he knew there was nothing he could do for the man now except honour his last wish. Spinning his Glider around, Sora pushed it to the limit, fighting the pull as he tried to get back to the deck before his line broke.

It was soon obvious he wasn't going to make it, however, given how he saw the rest of the crew bracing for impact, so with as much energy as he could spare, he banished his Glider back to its Keyblade form, aimed a Magnega spell at the ship, and let himself get drawn in. With a sudden jolt, he struck the one, his free hand snapping up to grab the railing, but he knew it wouldn't be enough to hold against the g-force the ship would soon be under, so he followed it up with a Graviga spell, feeding every bit of energy he could spare into maintaining his hold on the ship, both magical and physical.

Concentrating as hard as he was, he only barely noticed when the ship returned to regular space, and the forces trying to drag him away from the ship faded. Releasing his spell, and feeling immensely drained, he used what strength he had left to drag himself back on to the deck, before shambling and stumbling towards the helm, to give the captain the bad news about Arrow.

o-o

Coming out of her memory dive and returning to her own head, it took her a good while to return her thoughts to just her own; so much so that it took her roughly five minutes to notice that Kairi was leaning against the closed door watching her. Tilting her head to one side in confusion, she asked, "What's wrong Kai?"

Rolling her eyes slightly, but with a good-natured smile on her face, Kairi replied, "Nothing's wrong Nam, I'm just here because we agreed to trade off Sora's duties while he's recovering, and it's your shift."

Surprised, Namine replied, "No, it can't be, it's only been-" Catching sight of the time on her computer, she was surprised to find out that two hours had passed since she'd last looked at it. "Huh. I guess it can be..."

Shrugging slightly, Kairi remarked, "I tried to wake you, but when that didn't work I realised you weren't really there to wake." Helping her sister extricate herself from beneath their shared boyfriend, she asked, "Find out anything interesting?"

Thoughts still swirling through her mind, though in an organised mess now as compared to the total chaos before, Namine replied slowly, "Yeah, I think I did." Even without looking at her, Namine could still feel her sister's questioning gaze upon her. "Best save it for when Sora's awake though, so we don't have to go over it more than once."

Without waiting for Kairi's reply, Namine headed out to find the captain. With Arrow lost, Sora was now First Mate, and while he recovered that job fell to the two sisters. A job made much more complicated now that she'd seen that event through Sora's eyes, because unlike what he reported to Captain Amelia, Mister Arrow's line did not just break on its own. In the heat of the moment, Sora himself may not have actually seen what really happened, but having watched it herself, Namine did.

Arrow's line had been cut by Scroop.

o-o-o

When had his life become so complicated? Riku honestly thought that, after all of the craziness that travelling with Sora had brought him, that he had managed to sort things out and return to a kind of normal, only for River to shake him to his foundations once more; and with just two questions at that!

It had been almost a full day since she'd asked him, but still he couldn't get it out of his mind. Finding Milo after the camp fire incident had been easy enough, as had chasing him as the man scrambled over rocks and other debris, though what he had been chasing wasn't obvious until after they reached the end of the cave, finding themselves in a massive, lit cavern, in which sat a vast, ancient-looking, and more surprisingly, still mostly-intact city, surrounded by water; it was there that they'd been ambushed by three figures which were quickly revealed to be native Atlantians.

As Milo began his attempt at a diplomatic first contact, Riku couldn't help but think to himself 'I hope River doesn't interfere', knowing full well that she knew the language, probably better than Milo himself did, especially if she could pull what she needed to know out of the Atlantians' heads. Of course, it had slipped his mind at that point that if she could read their minds she could read his, though thankfully she didn't call him on it; not then, anyway.

It wasn't until after they'd reached the city, and had a less-than-cordial visit with the withered Atlantian king. The group had volunteered Milo to track down the king's daughter and try to get some information out of them, and trusting in the Sora philosophy of the first person they meet being the one to lead them to their goal, Riku and River had opted to tail him, make sure he didn't hurt himself, and see if he managed to stumble across the World's Keyhole.

Not long into their exploration, River had asked him plainly, "Why was it you didn't want me to interfere?" There was no note of accusation in her tone, just curiosity, for which he would be eternally grateful; as odd as she was at times, he did enjoy her company, and didn't want to offend her.

Riku's reply was simple. "Because we're not supposed to meddle in the affairs of other worlds. Whether they succeed or fail is up to them, not us. Our job is mainly to keep outside forces, like the Heartless, from messing this world up before that can happen."

River's riposte was just as swift. "But why? Based on what the girls told me about Sora's travels, jumping head-first into the affairs of other worlds was most of what Sora actually _did_, and look at what he was able to accomplish. So why aren't we meant to do the same?"

Riku found he didn't have an answer to that, and satisfied that her question was asked, River seemed to drop the issue, content to let him mull it over while they explored. It was a majestic, if somewhat run down city, and the people they encountered along the way seemed friendly, but there was always a hint of something underneath the surface. River had described it as a slight feeling of desperation, that for all the city appeared to be thriving, the civilisation was on its last legs.

Of course, River had also pocketed some odd rock that she claimed she could 'hear memories' from when she held it, while Riku himself heard nothing of the sort, so there was that.

Still, his mind kept coming back to the question she'd asked him, and he'd finally come to the conclusion that having no answer _was_ his answer. Turning towards her so as to continue their discussion on it, he found her already looking his way, the hint of a smile on her face; no doubt she'd already picked up on his new-found clarity, but the topic was worth discussing anyway.

"River, about that 'meddling' issue we talked about earlier?" She said nothing, but the slight nod of her head, and widening of her smile, showed she was listening. "While I'm sure you already know by now, I've realised that I don't really have an answer as to 'why'. It's just, the way it's always been. When working for both Mickey and DiZ, the primary rule was 'do not meddle in the affairs of other worlds'. I've never actually questioned the logic of it."

"I know why," River remarked almost casually, though with an excited undertone as though she'd been eager for the chance to talk about it. "Both why the rule exists, and why you follow it. And both of them resolve to the same thing: safety. Not the safety of the World in question, but of the traveller. The rule exists so that the traveller can ensure that nothing that happens while he's on that World leaves a lasting mark."

Riku could tell his confusion was plainly visible; fortunately, River continued unabated. "I'll give you an example. The hundred-plus men that died in the sub crash at the start of this expedition. They didn't really mean anything to you, and I don't mean that in an accusatory way - you didn't know them, and thus, while you may be sad that people died, you don't mourn their loss. That's why that rule exists. If you don't involve yourself in the affairs of other worlds, you don't have to worry about the lasting effects of what happened while you were there; by not meddling, you can rationalise it as something that would have happened with or without your involvement, even if you think that, maybe you could have changed it. But you weren't meant to change it, because the rule says you're not."

Pacing a few steps away, before twirling back to face him again, she added, "I'm sure that this rule works for many people, especially people like DiZ, but Riku, it doesn't work for us." With a flash of light, she summoned Fractured Time to her hand. "You and Sora have told me that this weapon is basically a representation of my heart. That this is my strength of self given form, to be used to defend myself and others from Darkness. But in order to do that, we need to actually _use_ our hearts." Banishing her Keyblade again, River closed her eyes, pressing one hand to her heart. "I felt every one of those deaths - I couldn't not! - and it's something that I will feel for a long time. But that pain gives me strength, so I can do my all to ensure that never happens again. But Riku, you've locked your heart away. You fight _with_ it, but you won't fight _for_ it!"

Riku could tell he was gaping in shock that this waif of a girl, who had only really had her mind to itself for under a month, could have such a startling revelation. Opening her eyes again, she stated plainly, "That's why Xurik almost beat you, you know. While I know, from what you've told me, Nobodies don't actually have a heart, you also mentioned that they remember what it feels like, and that those memories are what drive them. They can't _not_ follow the remembered feelings, because without a heart, those feelings can never change, and fighting for those feelings gives them strength. Tell me, what changed that allowed you to beat Xurik?"

"The Guardian." Riku replied slowly, the answer forming in his mind as he recalled the event. "It spoke to me. Told me that all it had left was the desire to protect. To protect those it cared about. And asked me if I would help it fulfil that purpose." Shaking his head, Riku couldn't help but sigh. "You're right River. I've always kept myself guarded, and I guess, ever since Hollow Bastion, I've been trying to make sure that never happened again by becoming even _more_ guarded..." Looking up at her, he asked, "But how do I change that?"

Smiling slightly, River gave an almost casual shrug. "I don't rightly know myself. But I do know that step one is admitting you want to."

o-o-o

Seymour smiled to himself, humming a jaunty tune as he strode towards his lab. The youngling 'Vanitas' was becoming increasingly unstable the longer Sora was able to elude them, and coupled with the disappearance of Xurik, the boy was rapidly losing favour with the Dark Master. It was a pity, however, that with his Keyblade, the whelp would never truly be obsolete; at least, not until Seymour could find a way to replace him.

The last attempt had not worked especially well, and had, in fact, lead to Xehanort taking matters into his own hands and 'reviving' Vanitas. One failed experiment piled atop another.

Still, his current pet project was nearing completion. If all went according to schedule, they would have the Princesses of Heart captured within the week. Granted, with Kairi still at large, Seymour wouldn't be able to create the true Keyblade of People's Hearts, but he would be able to construct the incomplete version, which would have the added benefit of keeping the Princesses sedated, as well as providing an additional means of repairing the Kingdom Hearts moon.

The thought gave him pause. What, exactly, did Xehanort need the Princesses for? The Keyblade of Hearts was, at best, a means to an end. So what was that end?

The ultimate goal of course was Kingdom Hearts, but his research told that while seven hearts of light could 'light the way', no mention was made of a way to control it. Which meant that there was some other catalyst, one that, if he knew, Xehanort was keeping mum on.

Seymour briefly toyed with the idea of seeing what the whelp knew, but realised he was merely a tool; one their 'master' did not fully trust. But then, who could one truly trust in this game they played?

He was not such a fool that he believed Xehanort truly had the same goals as he. Seymour knew that Xehanort intended to wipe the Worlds clean and rebuild them in his own image, most likely with himself as lord and master of all he surveyed; Seymour himself, however, merely wanted the first part of that plan. He had seen the Spiral of Death that all Worlds suffered from first hand, and he had honestly believed that if all life were to end, all suffering would end with it; after all, is that not why Unsent became Fiends, because they continued to suffer after death, and wished to spread that suffering to the living?

His own death, and the Sending that followed later, had done much to open his eyes. There was no respite from suffering even in death; Hades and his Underworld saw to that. Thus, there was but one way to truly end all suffering: to bring death to existence itself. He had found many souls in the Underworld that shared this point of view, including the one he had recruited to assist Xehanort in retrieving his research data. Seymour was not truly sure how many others had escaped when Hades slipped free from his bonds, but now that the dark god was returned to the Underworld, he'd not risk returning to find out.

Still, he needed allies if he was going to overthrow Xehanort; the man had at least two, including the 'sleeper agent' he had given the task of dealing with Riku, and no doubt he had many more. Perhaps, once his current project was no longer needed to retrieve the Princesses, he would reshape it to become both guardian and bloodhound, sending it out into the Worlds to hunt for more like-minded soul.

For now, he would keep his cards close to the vest. He may have held a Jack, and soon a King as well, but the Dark Master had at least two Aces.

* * *

Author's Notes

First, let me just apologize to everyone about how long this has taken. It's been almost a year since I last updated this story, largely due to working full time coupled with almost crippling writer's block. I should have had this chapter done at _least_ three months ago, because I've always known what was going to be in it, but I just couldn't get it actually written. As it is, there was more I was going to include in the chapter, but considering it's taken this long to get what's here done, I decided to cut my losses and move the yet-to-be-written scenes to the next chapter.

Second, I just want to assure everyone still following this story that, no matter how long it takes to actually get it written, I have not, and will not abandon this story. Even if I only get three words written a day, I **will** finish this, and the story I've intended to follow after it.

I'd like to say that I should be able to get the next chapter done within a month or two, but we all know how good I am at keeping to promises like that by now, so I'll just leave it as a _hope_ instead.


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